Eliza Muysken
My focus has been exploring how emotional sensations are connected to nature. I explored how emotions could be expressed through texture and lineation, and how this then reflected onto natural settings communicating an atmosphere, despite a person not always being present experiencing those emotions. I was particularly interested in the manipulation of texture and technique when interpreting an environment to reflect how the setting made you feel.
I aimed to create a collection of works which transitioned from explicitly expressing emotions and tension through the facial expressions and composition of the portrait, to shrinking the portrait and prioritising the environment, slowly encouraging the viewer to observe the texture, strokes, colour and composition of the landscape to understand the atmosphere and sensation which the piece is communicating.
Pathetic fallacy is when humans attribute feelings to inanimate objects. I wanted to explore why we assign these responses, and how texture, colour and stroke influences our emotional response to the environment. I began with double exposures, exploring how nature and environments reflect mood. Layering images led me to be more interested in the abstract shapes created. The texture and strokes began to have more importance to me as I saw how the shape and smoothness created a sense of relaxation and removed tension from the image.
As I experimented with lino, I explored how sharper jagged edges and smooth abstract shapes contrast, and I continued to use layering to add depth to the image with charcoal. I used oil paint to create smooth serene snowy mountain scapes, pieced together with cardboard and sharper strokes to reflect the harsh cold. I explored how dry pastel could reflect warmth and happiness from depictions of Upper Mustang near the Tibetan border in Nepal. Here smooth flowing lines and warm vibrant colours reflected my experience while viewing the environment.