Georgina Priovolou

Table of contents

Enjoy Capitalism.....................................4

Sharia........................................................6

Memorial..................................................8

1...2...3 A CHILD JUST DIED............10

Eveline.....................................................12

Scarlet Ibis..............................................14

A Peek Inside my Head.........................16

Urban Isollation.....................................18

Artist’s Statement...................................24

Georgina Priovolou Portfolio

Enjoy Capitalism

Final Piece, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas,1mx1m

Details

Sketchbook

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I worked on this project in the second year of my IB Diploma Programme in order to further my project on poverty, which I con-ducted during my first year in the IB. Having done research on the issue of poverty and having inves-tigated different ways to address and critique it, through the works of street artists like Banksy and Herakut, I was tempted to investi-gate a young artist called Jonathan Darby. He comments on social issues varrying from Capitalism, poverty, war and child trafficking. Despite his social engagement and the strength of his arts I really like the use of mixed media and layers on it. In my piece I drew a kid from a picture taken by Steve Mc-curry. Before applying any paint...

...I created a newspaper ground in order for the paint to be absorbed faster and remain bright but also to create texture and a sense of layers. Moreover, I added plaster in order to make the company logos stand out. I used a limited pal-lete of colours consisting of dark browns, reds and blacks in the form of intense brushstrokes and spills. Therefore the innocent child is juxta-posed to the rough textures and colours of its background. Through this artwork, I comment on the issue of poverty both in relation to capi-talism and of child labour.

Sharia

Mixed Media, Acrylic and collage on carton 49x40

Developmental stagesI did this piece in response to the Sharia law, a legal system in many Muslim countries that provides religious boundaries to the law. According to it, women do not have equal rights to men but also violate some of the most basic human rights: right of life, liberty and security. I created this piece using acrylics and mixed media in-cluding collage of different textures. The girl is juxtaposed with the rough textures of her surroundings, which highlight the antithesis between childlike innocence and the atrocities of life. This contrast is also highlighted through the technique I use to apply colour, on the background I use intense brushstrokes, spills and irregu-lar textures. On contrary, I paint her figure realistically to create intense emotions which are mainly purveyed through the eyes.

In memory of:GalAdamRouthEstirAzrielEzraAvaAaronIsaacMosesAliyaEster...mixed media, acrylic on a newspaper ground 23.5x29.5

Sketchbook Artwork Analysis and Investigation

Memorial

Having done my Extended Essay on the Avant Garde artists John Heartfield and John Grosz and how they used their art to critique the social corruption of their society I was intrigued to search further and investigate artists from different periods that also create social commentary. I investigated Delacroix and compared it with the work of Yue Minjun. I found that even in the hardest times art finds its way to create a social or po-litical commentary through different media.

Sketchbook Idea development and investigation1...2...3....A CHILD JUST DIEDHaving done research on the issue of poverty, I investigated different ways to address and critique it. Through the works of street artists like Banksy and Herakut, photographers and graphic designers, I became acquainted with different forms of art and gained a thorough insight into the issue of poverty. For my final piece I used acrylics on card stencils and a carton board. I painted a black kid wearing a helmet on which I included many elements of the economically-developed countries such as a dollar, technology and skyscrapers in order to create juxtaposition with the tender innocence of the child. The chained hands and the wired heart represent capitalism and the effect of technology and money on people and ultimately Africa. Through this piece I wanted to not only address the issue of pover-ty superficially but also look into it holisti-cally, into its very core. I mainly highlight the how “consumed” we are by the pursuit of wealth and by the extensive use of technol-ogy that we cannot see the poverty and the sadness around us. Lastly, the puppeteer hand

on the top of the composition alludes to a big manipulative power. What this power might be remains to your own perception and interpretation.

Poster, Acrylic and Stencil 72x42

SketchbookEveline Eveline,Dyptic, Acrylic on camvas. 48x48 each

For this piece I was primarily in-fuenced by a character from James Joyce’s collection of short stories Dubliners. Joyce depicts his char-acters struggling to live through the urban decay and corruption in Dublin. The details highlighting the grim realities of the city focus on the hardships and thus create a tragic tone and a subtle critique upon Joyce’s city.The characters are trapped in their restrictive mundane routines which cages them into cycles of frustration, ultimate stillness and paralysis. “Eveline”, is a story from the collection and the heroine whose name is signified by the title has the chance to escape from the restraint of the oppresive atmosphere in Dublin but chooses her miserable familiar life, which is stigmatized by her father’s abuse over her running away with her lover in Argentina. Eveline is terrified of the unknown, constrained by her gender role and her inability to move beyond the memories of her dead mother; she finds herself at an inner struggle and is finally paralyzed by her own fears. It is also important to note the symbolism of the dusk in Dubliners. Dublin is perpetually dark creating a sombre tone, characters appear to always live the most important part of their lives in dusk, an intermedi-ate time between day and night. This evokes a state of half-life and half-death which is linked both to Eveline’s conflict and since dark is associated with stillness, numbness and ultimately death, her final paralysis. “Eveline” is one of my favorite stories and in my opinion one of the saddest ones as the character is doomed by herself to paralysis. In the first part of the

diptych I wanted to illustrate her struggle to grasp upon a hope, a lover, a better future. In the second part of the diptych I illustrated Eveline in the last part of the story, where she is about to leave with her love but prays to God to guide her towards her duty. God and religion appears to be what metaphorically has restrained her from her happiness as she finally chose to stay loyal to her abusive father. However, I depicted her head with a flock of butterflies that signify her desire for escape and her need for love. Lastly I painted a black background to highlight the motif of darkness and half-numbness in Dublin associated with dusk.

Scarlet Ibis

For this dress I was inspired by the textures I found on a visit to the Hunterian muse-um in London and Alexander McQueen. During my visit I observed the different colours and textures on animal and human body parts that really fascinated me and so I started drawing them. I was previously engaged in investigating cul-tural differences on fashion and sketching different dresses that contained elements of Oscar Della Renta and Alexander McQueen’s tailoring. I furthered this interest by specifically looking at Alexander McQueen’s work and in combination with the observed textures from the Hunterian museum I came up

with a dress of my own. I made my dress using red cloth and recyclable materials like mirrored paper. I named my dress after a red bird (Scarlet Ibis) because some of the textures from which i got inspired included its feathers.

Drawings: A peek inside my head

Charcoal Life Drawing Charcoal (painting with rubber technique) Life Drawing

Pencil Life Drawing Nose Study, pigment pen and coffee

Watercolour, Life drawing sstained glass window

Sketch of a building in Paris, watercolour and pen

Study; Drawings about schizophrenia , black pigment pen, watercolour and coffee.

Watercolour, Life sketch, Sacre Cuere

Urban Isollation

Taken with an analogue camera and then scaned (pp 17-19)

Digital photography, Black and White

I like to think of my portfolio as an inventory of concerns: my paintings, drawings and pho-tographs reflect my observations on the world. My artwork therefore generates a critical com-mentary on social and political issues. Using a variety of media, I cover a diversity of issues, such as poverty, human rights, loneliness in urban settings and the struggle to harmonize with society.

What I like about fine art is the fact that you can move across different areas of art like instal-lation, photography, painting and digital media. So, you are not limited to just one art form and can subvert the traditional use of media and create along a wide spectrum. What really intrigued me into applying for your course is the combination of studio-based modules with theoretical and critical ones, as it enables you to create links between literature, politics, cul-ture, society and art. Specifically, the module Revolution and Radicalism caught my attention. Avant Garde art along with the radical changes it generated and its relationship to the political field have fascinated me for a long time and I am interested in gaining further insight on it.

Although there might not always be links between my artworks in terms of the material used, different projects are connected through a reccurring thematic pattern that then determines the materials and techniques that will be used. Since I detest being restricted to the use of only one material, I like to deviate from the conventional notion of paint and use mixed media. I like to get inspired by many disciplines including literature, psychology and socio-political issues, as I think it leads the audience to enter a cycle of speculations regarding the interpreta-tion of an artwork. I therefore think that I will acquire much from this course as it will enable me to further develop my critical thinking and my skills on different areas of he visual arts.

Artist’s Statement