Holburne Museum 

INTERVIEW DECEMBER 2016

School's Project Artist: 

Theme of project 'MOVING ON'

The Analysis of an Historic Oil Painting where the subject is a teenage boy leaving University

Applied, Interviewed, Not Selected....

Artist Brief

• Six chosen artists will each be allocated a sixth form in a local school (state or independent) 
• The artists will make one visit to the school where they will use the painting to initiate discussion with the pupils on their feelings about leaving school
• Each artist will be lent a canvas reproduction of the painting, audio recording equipment and a camera for their school visit
• The artist will create a piece of artwork (see conditions of entry) in response to the pupils

For me, the idea of ‘moving on’ particularly at a seminal stage in one’s life is an exciting concept to interpret creatively.

I think that by analysing an historic oil portrait which depicts a young person of a similar age may be a way in which today’s young adults could begin to express and explore their own interpretation of ‘self’ at a pivotal time in their lives using contemporary processes. Their idea of ‘self’ could be contrasted with the character in the painting, stimulating themes which resonate with a group of contemporary teenagers. For example, self confidence, self expression, ethnicity and physical presence.

The world of a teenager is almost wholly concerned with their own ‘visual portrait’ or appearance and is communicated entirely using digital media, a media which allows anonymity or infamy. Therefore, the digital style in which I depict historical portraits could be used to assist in representing the portraits or collective demeanour of a group of children at an influential time in their lives.

In my opinion, this project could be interpreted principally using current digital technologies - whether that takes the form of images or ideas captured via creative computer software, photographic scanned imagery or taken with personal portable devices and manually printed and collaged.