DP ART EXHIBITION - Nina Brankin

Nina Brankin

Impersonating

Watercolour on paper, marker and pen / size: sixteen 15cm X 20cm pieces mounted together on a 39.9cm X 89.9cm sheet of paper

This work depicts sixteen creatures each painted separately presented in a block. Each piece has very vibrant colours. Each of the figures are isolated within their own portrait. Though none of the figures are human they are meant to imitate them portraying personhood through iconography rather than appearances.

This work is based on the feeling of disconnect from your own body and life, only being a collection of feelings and experiences spectating a life rather than a body in control.

Corroding

Digitally enlarged watercolour painting/watercolour on paper using rainwater / 36cm X 78cm

This piece contrasts the vibrant painting of a destroyed building with a ghostly figure. The saturated lively colours of the destroyed building beautify its destruction, blinding the viewer to the negative aspects of destruction. This is to reflect the real-life where large issues are brushed over and ignored as they are unpleasant to be reminded of. This is further enhanced by the ghostly figure in the empty rain.

Helpless in the face of nothingness left in the face of destruction.

Breathless

Digitally enlarged watercolour painting on paper / 35.7cm X 90cm

In this piece I wanted to focus on the feeling of helplessness. The paintings feature an incorporeal figure standing amid disasters, seeming powerless and out of place. This draws from feelings of being unable to do anything to change the current world and your environment; helplessness in the face of disasters. The middle piece focuses on the feeling of meaninglessness, isolation and detachment from others in large crowds.

Endless Climb

Digitally enlarged watercolour painting/watercolour on paper, pen and acrylic paint / 45cm X 66cm total size of both pieces on a cardboard mount

This piece is based on the figure of speech “climbing towards success”. This piece is meant to contrast this concept of climbing towards goals in life as it’s never explained what comes after reaching these goals. I used space in the two pieces to show how meaningless yet overwhelming life may be, in the end having no goal or purpose other than reaching its end. The identity-less ghost is alone among the many ladders, portraying how in the end a person's life is an individualistic experience.

Standing Still

Watercolour on paper / 17.3cm X 26cm

The piece is strongly based on the detachment from others and alienation that being in large crowds may bring. The figure is separated from the faceless crowds using a contrast of strong colours against white. The piece uses colours that are not often seen naturally in the environment as well as obscure imagery aiming towards creating a dreamlike appearance to the work and the scene it portrays.

zipping apart

Acrylic paint, gel pen, cardboart and zipper / 24cm X 34cm

Attempting to create an uncomfortable feeling of being observed and

studied, the piece depicts a ghost being watched by numerous eyes surrounded by a vibrant red. The piece uses the motif of zippers to communicate a feeling of falling apart and not being able to pull yourself back together, spilling out. The piece further carries the feeling of being judged creating a theme of not being able to hold yourself under pressure and others watching.

Curatorial Rationale

The exhibition centres around isolated figures. The pieces overall use imagery of un-human and ghost-like figures that strip away their identity and leave them as simply existing. The pieces use vibrant colours and simplistic style to create a feeling of unreality to further detach them from real life. I used these pieces to explore the themes of life, identity and society, focusing on a person as an individual, as well as the detachment and isolation within these concepts. These were strongly based on my own thoughts and experiences, including a sudden change in lifestyle, isolation and environmental stress.

All of the pieces featured were picked due to their connecting theme of isolated figures as well as a connecting feeling of helplessness. The works feature simplistic figures often with non-human or ghost-like appearances. I utilised this to make the figures stand out more and push the themes of the paintings; Becoming more like symbols of a person than an actual people. The majority of the pieces featured were painted using watercolours. I used them due to their ability to produce dynamic strokes and shapes as well as their vibrancy, contributing to the motif of the ghost and sense of unreality in the paintings.

Furthermore, I used pens to produce more controlled smaller strokes allowing me to add finer detail, finally using acrylic paints in two of the pieces to create flat colors and textures in the pieces. I enjoy painting on a very small scale but as I wanted the exhibition to leave a greaterphysical impact and be visible I decided to enlarge them digitally and exhibit them that way.

The pieces share a black border unifying them visually. The exhibition is arranged in a way that would bring the eye of the viewer from the largest piece on the top left, right and downwards towards the other pieces. The smallest piece is contained between larger pieces to keep the exhibition contained. All of the pieces are kept close together; This is partially to make the exhibition feel larger but also to create an overwhelming effect that contrasts with the predominant feature of isolated figures. This closeness further emphasises the saturated vibrant colours featured in the pieces to make them seem more lively and happy contrasting with the much darker thematic, aspects of the pieces.

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