Overall I am pleased with this outcome. Despite earlier misgivings about a lack of an illusion of physical depth to the image, I feel the colour choices and textures created by multiple layers depict an emotional depth. The eyes are startlingly expressive. I chose to colour them a bright blue to accentuate this effect, though my eyes are actually hazel. I kept having to remind myself that this was an experimental piece and, as such, a learning tool. It wasn’t supposed to be an exact physical likeness, but I feel it is a close approximation of a depiction of my prevailing mental and emotional state. I feel that the emotional message this piece conveys underlines the reasons why I chose distance learning over a bricks and mortar University. Although this blog is open viewing online, I feel less exposed than if I were to attempt this level of personal expression in close physical proximity to fellow students. Studying this way suits me well, I feel.
A little bit about the inspiration for the piece:
Picasso’s Facing Death (1972), a drawing he created less than a year before he died, was a great inspiration for me. The way he captures his own sense of despair with huge staring eyes and the jarring colour combination of sickly green and red crayon, appears effortless. He was pouring out his soul onto the paper, I feel.
In Hypervigilance, I wanted to create something of equal emotional depth to the Picasso drawing. In my life, the prevailing state of being has been one of over-analysis of the minutiae inherent in the human condition. Hypervigilance was something I only had a name for relatively recently. And, in giving it a name, I have begun to relinquish its hold over me.
References:
Picasso. P. (1972) Facing Death. [Crayon on paper] [online image] Available from: https://www.pablopicasso.org/images/paintings/picasso-self-portrait.jpg (accessed 5th August 2020)
Walker. M. (2020) Hypervigilance #2 [mixed media on A1 mountboard]
Maureen Walker's blog: An Artist's Journey 
