Sofia Abdulazizova
My theme for this exhibition was conveying emotions through portraiture , specifically through colour . I am fascinated with how much you can find out about a person by patiently studying their face . Through the expression of the eyes you could see unrelenting sorrow or through the curve of the mouth you could catch glimpses of mischief . Before the IB I was most comfortable with pencil drawing and painting with oil paints . I was inspired to challenge myself so I tried lino printing , mono printing with one colour , mono printing with two colours , drawing with pastels and the biggest painting I ’ ve ever made . Making art using images of my friends was very important to me as I know these people ; hopefully I could tell the truth of their character with my brushstrokes .
The big painting is based on a fun , joyous photo of my friend . I wanted to represent the joys and troubles of the teenage experience hence the use of bright colours and unexpected textures . With the one-colour mono prints , I explored emotions through the background colours . The purple symbolised being lost in your own thoughts and dreams , while the bright blue signified hope and dreaming of the bright future and the brick red symbolised passion and determination . The most intimate undertaking was the series of small portraits . I always wanted to make a series like that because having the face tell the story of a person is very moving and powerful .