Lara Rampersad
The work I have produced throughout this course can be seen as a continuation of the mediums , techniques and themes I explored in my GCSE course two years prior . I began my IB course with an untimely case of artist ’ s block , experimenting with a variety of mediums in an attempt to reignite my creativity . As the year went by and the pressure of the IB began to accumulate , for better or worse , I began to concentrate on the creation of my art pieces . I found etching to be a perfect balance between chaos and control , allowing me to create expressive and emotive marks while achieving a strong , controlled response , which was hard for me to achieve through other mediums as I tended to get ‘ lost ’ in mark marking . Etching allowed me to rely on the process as it added the structure needed to control the direction of my somewhat erratic technique , in combination producing a forceful and emotive outcome .
With sensation being our IB given theme , I chose to explore this with emotion , drawing inspiration from my personal experience with sensation , whether a place that struck me as beautiful , a time I felt was particularly heavy or a concept I had been tackling . All of which I have found to be documented in my art , sometimes unconsciously . Taking inspiration from the likes of Munch and Emin , the strong relationship between gesture and emotion is the most prominent theme connecting the body of work I have produced . The raw and vulnerable nature of their work is something I aimed to imitate and will continue to do so , strengthening the connection between gesture and emotion .