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IB ART FINAL EXHIBIT
April 2007

...Hello? •  Duchess & Son •  Delirium •  Medusa •  Self-Portrait with Monkey •  We have tails / we have teeth
The Other Mother •  Mermaid Trees •  Un/dressed •  Untitled (earth) •  Whisper •  Outtake from a Sitting

Candidate Statement
Through my work, I want to display a collection of female aspects and roles, both negative and positive. I have attempted to maintain a red thread throughout, while using many different media. For each piece, I have chosen the medium that I felt would best emphasise the role or aspect I was trying to depict.

At first, I would rarely attempt to use a medium unknown to me. Most of my difficulties have therefore been related to trying new media and daring to risk ruining a piece to improve it. I was not used to including so much of my personal feelings in my art, so exposing myself in that way has also been a challenge. Once I dared to take those risks, however, I was so pleased with the results that I continued to force myself to overcome my fear of the unknown. Most of my later pieces use media with which I had no previous experience, and are often more personal.

Most of my pieces have another artist's work as their initial inspiration, though it is sometimes difficult to see in the final product. Once I had the initial idea, I would develop it independently, sketching and experimenting with ways to bring out the message I wanted to convey. If I needed more inspiration or background information, I would look at other artists doing similar things before starting on the piece itself.

My greatest influence has undoubtedly been Dave McKean, and how he maintains his unique style of creating art while at the same time working within a huge range of media. Even in my pieces where his influence is not visible, his ability to do virtually anything has inspired me to dare more and to always try new things, no matter how scary they might seem.