Year 12 Visual Art Student Profile: Genevieve Brown

Genevieve Brown

This week we chat with Year 12 Visual Arts student Genevieve Brown. Genevieve shares the inspiration and story behind her artwork.

What is your artwork about?

My artwork explores the ideas of female vanity and self-perception. My piece features a picture of me looking in the mirror, with one hand pulling my face. This explores the naturalised way that girls, particularly teenage girls, negatively perceive themselves.

What or who is the inspiration behind your artwork?

I wanted to comment on the way that our obsession with our physical appearance dominates our lives. To the extent that it determines the self-worth and ‘social status’ of ourselves and others and how intensely isolating this obsession can be. 

Who is your favourite artist?

One of my favourite artists and inspirations is, WanJin Gim. Gim’s work features many nuanced and hyper-realistic anatomical drawings. He predominately uses colour pencils on brown Kraft paper and chooses simple yet incredibly detailed subjects for his pieces. Gim’s style and even choice of the subject matter have been a big influence on my final piece, which borrows his use of saturated and unrealistic colour choices for his drawings and the brown background washes.

What is your favourite medium to work in?

My favourite medium to work in is pencils. My favourite pencils to use are Prismacolor pencils. I like using pencils because I like the way the pencils blend and the slightly grainy texture they create when applied on mount card. Pencils allow me to pay greater attention to detail and I enjoy the fact that I can focus on realistic representations of subjects whilst still being creative. 

What do you love most about art?

What I love most about art is the freedom to explore and creatively represent different ideas, both personal and social, visually.

Art is a class that I look forward to because, unlike other subjects, I have the opportunity to pursue my interests and uniquely present them. I also find that spending some of my school day drawing is a relaxing break from the intensity of my other classes. Art is also rewarding because it’s always inspiring and fun to see everyone else’s paintings and pieces and the individuality in each one. 

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