If you're looking for trouble...
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1st Place: Painting
Artwork Statement
This artwork is 3 layers that pertain to my interpretation of disruption to world politics and my response to it. The first layer is copied pages from the book Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. I read this book in my 20’s and it has been resonating with me lately as it appears allies are made to be enemies and enemies are now friends. The second ‘layer’ is a lino print image of my own profile picture. It is blurred and smeared, like losing myself in the writing of newspeak; yet still here. The third layer is a call to disrupt and fight back. Rising up from the streets.
Curator's Comment
Strong response to the theme by protest and resistance against strict power structures. A simple and effective design that demonstrates development and planning. The work is a timely example, particularly with using Orwell’s 1984 as the backdrop. The themes raised in Orwell’s distopian novel feels very relevant today. Clever choice. The loud, graffiti like text, “I was born standing up and talking back” stipulates the freedom of the individual and speaks to the evolution of the human to become upright. The phrase is a physical and metaphorical nod to ‘not lie down’, aka to not be submissive or defeated.
About the artist
Claudia Ehlers has been quietly and slowly making art in her own artspace. Ehlers creates for her own enjoyment and personal growth as a human being. A drawer and painter since childhood, she has been developing her skills through the portraiture of popular culture figures, mainly artists and writers. Her favourite art making scenario is a day at home where she has quality time to paint with her little family.