The inspiration behind our student art exhibition pieces

Don't miss your chance to see our amazing student artwork exhibition on Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd March at the Troubadour Cafe Gallery, 265 Old Brompton Road, Earls Court, London SW5 9JA
Here are some of the pieces that will be part of the exhibition, with a few words from the student about what inspired them.

Anastasia
The choice of a diptych format with horizontal emphasis could be explained by the desire to recall lifting cranes and chimneys viewed from the window in the mind of the viewer. The composition is abstracted but certain techniques, such as decalcomania, collage, and thick application of contrasting colours on top of the other, are intended to create a feel of an industrial landscape.

Siannae
Over the Summer, I watched the Channel 4 Documentary: 'Secrets of the Living Dolls' and was inspired by the spectacle of female masking and performance. I began research into the history and evolution of Dolls throughout time and different cultures, when I came across a quote, "Dolls have an uncanny ability to reflect the times that create them." My trip to Vienna fuelled many ideas for this project, the 'Human Identity'. I visited the Leopold and Secession museum and was drawn to the gothic/fairytale imagery and forms from the works of Gustav Klimt and Giacometti. During the trip I recorded their various ways of working and techniques, producing rough studies (using chalk, biro and pencil). I pulled these different ideas together, emulating the eerie/dark atmosphere. I painted over, added various textures and waste materials, reconstructing these gothic dolls to form a sense of exhibition and spectacle.

Amy
Leda and the Swan
This is an oil painting on canvas in which I exaggerated the colours then blended them together bringing out the primary and secondary colours in the skin. I built up the image section by section applying the oil paint quite thickly. It was part of my project focusing on the human figure. In particular I was exploring the greek myth of Leda and the Swan in which Zeus came down in disguise as a swan and seduced Leda. I wanted to depict the vulnerability of the human figure in contrast to the swan which appears elegant yet slightly sinister. There is also a heavenly light that shines down in a symbolic way referencing the divinity of the swan.

Yilang
This painting is about a feeling of vulnerability, the foetal position is the only way of protecting herself. Surrounded by only emptiness she is holding on a very fragile flower. In order to do this painting I used acrylic paint and collage.

Nazurah
This is part of my personal project under the theme Cultural Diversities. Inspired by different cultures I studied including the Asian Buddhist statues - which can be seen on the painting. The materials I used were sand, acrylic, inks and cardboard. I started the piece by using cardboard as the base of the painting to accentuate the mosaic quality inspired by Byzantine art and adding sand on top of it creates decorative textures. The meaning behind this piece is to illustrate the mixture of cultures we see in this world.

Joe
This painting is about showing the luxurious, rich side of city life. It is a car that reflects the building in an exaggerated way, and by using lots of bright colours it shows the colourful side of the city. The picture was taken in Knightsbridge, and I find it really interesting when I took this picture, the car mirror reflects the surface of the subject as well as the world around it, which make me feel like being shifted between the object within and the world around it, between reality and fantasy.

Lidiia
I like to paint children and animals because both are sincere. Combining the softness of charcoal with vibrant purples and blues of pastel I was aiming to create a fairy tale, dream-like feeling. The mood and atmosphere are two key factors in my work.

Sofia
Ripped Walls/7AZ+
Mixed Media Piece - charcoal, acrylic, oil paint, graffiti sprays, cotton, newspaper, cardboard, plastic net, wood, plaster, ashes, ink, sand.
This mixed media painting abstracts two photographic compositions taking from Barcelona and Moscow. I chose the theme of urban decay to invoke the life of disruption in our modern capitalist society, witnessing the chaos that certainly became hidden underneath the benefits of civilization. I was determined to reconnoitre the genre of social realism in fine art. I was influenced by several artist that helped to change my approach technique and limited colour palette, as well as being interested in photojournalism that drove me to discover several meanings. Looking at the patterns of rustication, present youth culture of artists - their graffiti drawings and the concept of how this form of art is prohibited and rated as vandalism. The lighting in this work creates dramatic depth of field that elevates vertical and diagonal emphasises that highlights multiple leading lines. Mixed Medium as the mankind objects in the painting - helped to invoke contextual meaning behind the artwork, representing disrupted, rusticated patterns of civilised vulgarity.

India
This piece is about the Human Figure. It was inspired by two artists from Saatchi Gallery, Fang Lijun and Mei Dean-e. The Fang Lijun's piece i saw was decorative and relevant so i used the girl in the picture but switched it up by putting my own jumping figure on top, changing the skin tones from the outside to the inside. Mei Dean-e's work I saw was different, he used string for making facial hair it was very long and gave his painting more life. I used this idea for the hair in my piece, it gave it something more to the painting, more texture and movement making it three dimensional.

Maria
Medium: sand, acrylic, oil paint, oil pastel, chalk, ink
Here I tried to use a range of different brushstrokes and marks to create expressive lines and other marks. My theme is facial expressions and i chose to take the more abstract side rather than copying a person's face exactly. In this painting i attempted to make areas of the face glow by adding brighter colours in some areas in which have more lighting. In addition to this, I wanted to build up layers and layers but slightly allow for the layers underneath to reveal themselves.