Critique

Work being critiqued: https://www.laurensimons.art/post/install-and-artist-statement

When first viewing my work, the critique group was instantly drawn to the use of colour noting that the CMY colour way felt youthful, playful and child-like. They enjoyed how I played with layering the colours, and how the transparency interacted and blended forming new colours, shades, and even formed new shapes.

Clearly seeing portraiture in the works the group emphasised the abstract nature that was also present. It was subtly stated that a sense of cubism was coming through due to the various angles of facial features that were used—they were seen from different angles.

The group enjoyed what they couldn't see, trying to pick out little details and make sense of what area of the face they were looking at. At the same time they also enjoyed what they couldn't see in the negative space. The negative space was well balanced with the positive space.

The groupings of the drawings when installed was interesting as they were different images yet belonged together. There was movement throughout the drawings as the viewers eye was guided across the linking forms. Grouping the drawings together using varying quantities of the drawings complimented the visual translation of the process and the contextual underpinnings—they were piecing together a new face, a new persona/identity.

The differing scales of my work (smaller drawings and larger paintings) didn't feel out of place and instead complemented each other.

When viewing my paintings the critique group noticed a reflection of a person in one of the eyes. They appreciated the subtlety of this and said that it created a small sense of mystery and wanted to know more about this unknown figure. The group was a little unsure about the ovals/simplified silhouettes in the paintings but felt like they helped bring the facial features together. They thought that trying out different shapes could be beneficial.

Discussing my statement the group agreed that they were mostly drawn to the last paragraph:

"These processes speak directly to the neurodivergent experience of masking, where identity is continuously dismantled and reinvented in response to external cues and expectations, revealing the ongoing, often invisible labour of self-presentation".

They found that the last few words, "invisible labour of self-presentation", were intriguing and could be used in the studio for various explorations and developments.

After viewing some of my previous works that are light/colour reactive, I was asked if this install also had the same effect and if the group could view the work through the RGB coloured filters which I often use. Although this install does have the capabilities of the RGB/CMY interaction (https://www.laurensimons.art/post/the-samoiloff-effect), I did not intend to utilise the phenomenological effect for this install although I may consider it in the future for these works/further development of these works.