After experimentation with conceptual work, collage and painting/drawing, I have concluded my project with what approach had the strongest outcome. Drawing is where I feel comfortable and I have tried to push myself to experiment with alternative methods but in the end found myself coming back to my roots. Even in my explorations with combining media I found the final work didn’t have the emotional effect essential to this project, my theme being ‘How our environments reflect and affect our mental state of mind’.

This project has been very personal, in that I have looked at and dissected my mental health, and in all intents and purposes, my laziness. I had originally intended on exploring both the ups and downs of how I feel, but at risk of sounding cliché I feel my best and most powerful work is created at my low points. It may also be true that I feel more need to express myself when I am feeling low.

Throughout this project I have struggled with time management and pushing myself to explore mediums I am not classically comfortable with. I have however come to the understanding that it is okay for me to work in the ways that I feel comfortable, and that if I feel like drawing or painting there is no reason I should stop myself from doing so. I do wish I had understood this earlier which may have allowed me to create a larger body of work. In my next project I will start with what I comfortable with and then hopefully inspire myself to explore alternative materials and styles of art.

In my final work I was intent on finding a way to express the melancholy nature of my concept, while also involving the domain integral to explaining my theme ‘how our environment affects and reflects our mental health’. The use of a blue and muted browns and reds for my colour palette reflects the sombre nature of the self portrait. the chaotic expressive lines show the messiness I felt mentally and the related messiness of my surroundings. The use of a found object as my canvas (a piece of MDF with screw holes), linked my work to the domestic environment I self destructively neglected. Conscious of not overworking the piece like some of my other experiments ended up, you can still see some of the canvas showing through the painting/drawing. One of the most poignant times that illustrated my feelings of discomfort in my own living space was a moment when I spilt an ashtray on my bed, and instead of cleaning it, I brushed it away and went to sleep, The distortion of my face in the image, created by pressing it against clingfilm, imitates the way I slept on that day. the twisted features and almost dead like appearance show this moment, and through showing this moment, the overall emotions I wanted to express through my work.