AS Level Art Exam Evaluation

Art Exam Evaluation – Rosemary Robinson

I begun my project by researching artists who specialised in photography, in particular portraits, and found the work of Cindy Sherman who uses light and shadow to create a dramatic mood; already knowing I wanted to continue the course using sculpture, I wanted to incorporate this theme into my own photography. The first set of photos I took reflected Sherman’s work, though I decided to extend this by also focusing on the face, and included the cloth as an additional feature. I continued researching the theme of dramatic shadowing on portraits, and found the artist Caravaggio whose ‘Judith Beheading Holofernes’ female figure reflected disgust and horror, an element I wished to continue in my photography, seen in my second set of photos. I both sketched and used biro on the first series of my own photos, and linked then my planned 3D work with the sketches by placing a piece of folded material on top of a sketch.

I created clay pieces reflecting material to discover if it was suitable to create ceramic folded figures, and found clay was strong yet delicate enough to imitate folded fabric. On seeing that the figures were successful I researched other sculptors that may have created similar pieces. Bernini, whose ‘The Ecstasy of St Theresa’ I painted, produced similar forms from marble and used biblical references to reflect religion during the Baroque period, and so I studied and copied his work. I also created plaster relief work so I could link my prep with my 3D work, and mimic Bernini’s work. Influenced by his work, I took a second set of photos, though these used fear and saw the subject hiding behind cloth. This series of photos have light appearing from above to intimating religious art during the Baroque period, and the subject alternates between fearful, exploited, wounded and threatening.

My figures have been glazed and painted to reflect different messages: the earthy natural coloured faces reflecting prejudice against the deformed and mutilated people of modern day; and the silvered metallic faces seeming to reflect the loss of communication within society. My sculptures reflect the masking by people in their everyday lives by hiding their beliefs, emotions, secrets. Though the audience is unable to tell if the faces are shielding themselves from an outside influence or concealing something undisclosed within them, a veil is clearly put between the figure and the audience creating a barrier, reflecting the breakdown of verbal communication within society. As well as this, the metallic figures created show the figure shrouding their face in different manners, significantly echoing the statement ‘see no evil hear no evil speak no evil’.