A series of five paintings of a young woman wearing a red swimsuit moving through the water.

Woolooware High School

Immersion and Fragmentation

Painting, acrylic paint, impasto paste

My work aims to display the freedom that water enables. A weightlessness which allows shapes and lines to become fluid, as does a body in water, this is what I've aimed to achieve in my artworks.  I explored the idea that water is a representation of life, as life can be fraught with pain, hurt and emotional isolation so if it was at all possible to glide through these moments like water, being fragmented and changed but without absorbing the trauma, would be ideal. I investigated concepts of a reflected and fragmented image as swimming was a major part of my upbringing, which allowed me to understand life underwater, the freedom it allows as well as the beautiful yet distorted images it can create depending on depth and light. The making of my work included hundreds of images that my mum took of me swimming and posing in and out of water. Myself being the subject allows my relation with water and the freedom and expression I feel when in it to be portrayed on a artistic scale.

An artistic orange brushstroke design forms abstract shapes on a white background. Overlaid on the design is the word "artexpress" in a sleek, modern black font. The orange brush strokes appear dynamic and free-flowing, with splatters and tapered ends.Simplified waratah flower in deep red colour with the words NSW Government in dark blue stacked underneath.

ARTEXPRESS is a joint partnership between The New South Wales Department of Education and NSW Education Standards Authority in association with Hazelhurst Arts Centre.