Hannah Fawcett BA (Hons) Fine Art 2020

I produce gestural paintings which are a collaboration with my childhood self. Through auto-biographical research I aim to re-connect with my younger self and work in harmony with the inner-child discovering the complexity and dialogue which encases itself in seemingly naive scribbles.

Using semiotic analysis of mark-making to establish underlying connections and appreciate the purity and playfulness within artwork that comes from an innocent mind and depict this liveliness through use of vivid colour and layering. Continuing to consider and be informed by notions surrounding Child Art within the Outsider Art movement as well as its influence on Abstract Expressionism.

Each painting is recognisable by the sickly colour pallete and playful abstract imagery which fills the Fabriano paper. Using traditional processes such as paper stretching yet experimenting with children’s craft paint and tools demonstrates the relationship and celebration of the two. Appropriation of my childhood marks has been a defining characteristic in the initial stages of planning using Photoshop. The narrative which follows is one which captures the dialect between that of my younger self and I which immerses the viewer in a labyrinth of play. Precisely replicating original found marks, honouring their profundity, each painting uses tone and structure to form a basis for which non-traditional painting can be incorporated. Thin layering allows for a blend of hues and physically piling paint onto the brush creates oozing splodges down the paper, embracing the unruliness which comes with allowing the paint some room to create disorder.

Allowing myself to become aware of my inner-child and using my platform as a Fine Art graduate to give it a voice within the contemporary art world is key to the progression of acceptance for young artists and creates opportunities to be discovered within the art world.