Shaun Space Crit:

On the morning of Tuesday 25th February 2020 I had a Crit in the Shaun Space. My crit was held alongside two other artists from my class: Cristina Bratu and Kelly Dunlop. Each of us presented ourselves by displaying our most recent pieces we had produced towards our module, it was interesting for me to see my work exhibited amongst other artists' work as it was good to be able to compare and see our different aspects and interests.

Cristina displayed: a painting on fabric, a large sketch and a series of 4 sketches that she was planning on painting. All of Critina's work was based upon exploring the figures of Women. Kelly displayed a very intriguing sculpture which was made up of mini tubes and she also played a audio clip which linked very well with her 3D piece.

I decided to display a mixture of media within art, I displayed: 2 framed pointillism drawings done in Ink, A Mexican Day Of The Dead mask and a mask painting. I displayed different formations so that I could show my various techniques that I use when it comes to using different mediums.

The duo pointillism drawings were to represent the Japanese culture due to them being inspired by two Japanese Theatre masks. The two theatre masks that inspired me are known as Hannya and Okame, which are two very popular female characters. Hannya is known to be a woman who turned into a Demon that is full of hate and jealousy where Okame is known to be very happy and cheerful who brings luck and good fortune to the man she marries.

As for my Day of the Dead mask, I was inspired by the Mexican festival ‘Day Of The Dead’ where everyone would get together in remembrance of their passed Ancestors. The mask I produced was very influenced by similar masks that you would see women wearing or painting upon their faces during this event. 30cmx17cm.

My painting that I submitted to this crit is about to expand into a series of paintings. I want this series to raise awareness on issues that we seem to hide behind this invisible mask. I created this piece using Acrylic painting on canvas which measures 50cmX40cm. For the facial features I used cardboard which I then placed on top of my painting.

Overall I really enjoyed my crit and presenting my current work, I was also satisfied with the pleasant feedback that I received. I was intrigued when my class members were also giving me suggestions that I should do with my work in the future, such as make more Mexican inspired masks.