Art Portfolio

My artworks revolve around the theme of gender and identity. As an artist, I like to

explore the identities of myself and others using different media such as fashion and

photography. With different influences like Cindy Sherman and Alexander McQueen, I

am able to find my design aesthetic as an artist and a fashion designer. My fashion

designs have are heavily influenced by the Edwardian and Victorian time period. This

allows me to combine these historical influences with modern silhouettes, which enables

me to seek for my identity as a designer and an artist.

InterpretationThis photographwas inspired by theworks of Cindy Sherman. Sherman uses the media photography toexplore femininityandthe female identity insociety. Iusedherasan inspirationto createasetofphotosthat explored the different identities of the roles I have performed as. By stepping into their shoes, thisexperience allowedme to explore identitiesof different peopleas I put on the outfits and become one ofthem.

DescriptionIn this series of photographs, I posed asdifferentpersonas.Igaveeachofmycharactersastoryandinthisphotograph,Iwasposedasarape victim. Using Photoshop, I added indifferent effects like covering the floor withgreen grass like material just to match withCindy Sherman’s original photo as this wholeseries was inspired from her unique style. Icreatedthischaracterfromheadtotoe.Ichosethewigandalsodidmyownmakeup. Itwasahugechallengeas itwasmyfirsttimecreatinga persona but I managed to pull through andproduced this photograph. This is one of myfavoritephotographsasitreflectsononeofthemost serious issues that affect women today:Rape.Themeaningofthisartpiece isto showpeoplethedifferentidentitiesdifferentfemalesplay in the current modern society, withdifferent roles, there are different problemsandrapeisaseriousoneinthissociety.

DescriptionIn thisphotograph, Ihave createdadifferentpersona.Comparingthisphotographwiththelast one, this character ismore bourgeoisies.The costume I was wearing was also handmadebyme,withgoldsatinandblack lace. Ichose the coloring theme of gold, white andblack because I believe it exudes a moresophisticated look for the photograph ingeneral. With the makeup and the hair, thispersonaisshownaspolishedandrefined.Sheis one of the characters I have played inmyyearsofactingindramas.IusedPhotoshoptocorrect the colour of this photograph, as thepicturewas not as bright. In the photographbelow,Ihadtoeditin thebackground,astheset up was not there when I took thephotograph. I took the photograph with awhite background then soon I edited thewhite background out and place it onto thecircus themed backdrop. This illustrates acharacter that I played. She is a characterfrom another time period; she is from theEdwardian era. She is the wife of a circusmasterwhoabusedher.Icreatedphotographnotonlytoexplorethesepersonasdeeplybutalso to raise awareness to violence andabusive relationships currently happening inthesocietytodifferentfemales.

InterpretationPlasticsurgery is trendingallovertheworldnowadaysandpeoplehavebeenchangingtheir looksallthetimeastheyseeindefiniteimperfectionsoftheirfacialstructure.WhatIamtryingtoconveyinthispiece is that people should not be ashamed of how they look as I believe everyone should lovethemselvesforwhotheyare,weshouldnotbejudgedjustbyour‘looks’.

DescriptionIn the female figure, Ihaveaddedsomeextradetailstothefaceofthesculpture.First I added staples to show that thisfigure has “gone under the knife” but Iwent a step further to use paint toconceal thestaples.What I am trying tosay is that even though she tried toconceal the wounds and the cut but itwill always be there.We should not letsmallimperfectionsruinwhatisgiventous naturally. We should not degradeourselves justbecauseourlooksarenotup to standard, there shouldn’t’t be astandard forwhat isbeautiful andwhatisnot.

DescriptionI also did a male version for thissculpture because recently males arealso doing procedures to makethemselvesmore ‘perfect’. First I coatedthe foam head with a skin colouredacrylic paint to give more liveliness tothehead. I also didn’twant topaint theeyes onto the sculpture because I wantthem to look lifeless and moreintimidating. Ithenusedrealmakeuptoenhancetherealnessofthesculpture,asIwantittolookasrealisticaspossiblesothatmypointcouldbearticulated.Iusedliquid eyeliner for the facial hair andbrown lipstick for the lips so that itwouldlookmoremasculine.Ialsoaddedstaples to the side of his face. Theprocedure markings are there torepresent their urge to getmore plasticsurgery right after their first operation.This shows that the idea of beautystandards have been indented in theirminds.

DescriptionIn the female figure of the sculpture, I havealso added makeup to majority of the faceonto the foamhead, as Iwanted to tryusingmakeupfor thebesteffect for thecontouringof the face. I soon decided that it would bedistractingifIaddedbothcontouringandtheproceduremarkings.Ididenhancethelookofthe foam head with some eyeliner and eyeshadow just togive theeyearea somedepthas it lookedhollowbefore. I alsodidn’tdrawtheeyesintogiveoutasenseofcreepinesstothe whole sculpture. This whole meaning ofthisproject is toshowpeoplethatweshouldlovehowwelookandshouldnotberestrictedbybeauty.Societyshouldnothaveastandardfor what is beautiful and what is not as wedecidewhatisbeautifulforus.Wearenotallperfectandweshouldembracewhatwehave.

DescriptionIn this art piece, the initial idea came tomefromtherealmodelingworld.Isawthelifeofoneofthemodelsandtheirstoryhasinspiredme to create this art piece. There is a‘requirement’ for being a fashionmodel andthat is tall thin and beautiful from thesociety’s standards. Not many people meetthis ‘requirement’ and thus theydon’t get tobe in the industry. In thisart piece Iexplorethe identity of the models as they have acertain “standard” to live up to. In thephotograph on the left, I selected a picturefrom the Victoria Secret’s fashion show anddecided to emphasize her body shape andhow they look like from my point of viewthrough using Photoshop. I added the bonesasanemphasistotheir‘slender’figures.Ialsowanted to emphasize on the point that theylook somewhat “unhealthy” as models areoftenunusually thin evenwith their skin layflatagainsttheirbones.Thispiecealsoallowsmetoexplorethestandardsofbeingamodeland what is considered as ‘beautiful’ in themoderndaysoflife.

DescriptionThis art piece comes in a series of twophotographsas Iuseddifferentmodels fromdifferent fashion shows. They all have onething in common and that’s their figure. Iexaggerated her waistline to create theillusion of “bone thin” on the model’s bodyusing the liquefying tool in Photoshop as itcould move pixels to different places. I alsoput skeleton arms and body on the model’sbodytoexaggeratehowtheworldseesthesemodels. Iwant to correct the standards thatthe society created for us in the sense thatwhatisbeautiful.Weshouldnotbechangingour lifestyle just to fit into this “standard”.That’s why nowadays there are “plus-size”modelswithamorenormal figurecomparedtothesetraditionalmodelswithstickfigures.I personally want to correct this idea ofbeauty as a designer since I believe that allbody types are beautiful as it is natural and‘untouched’. We should embrace our figuresandignorethestandardsthatrestrictus.

DescriptionThis isoneofmyveryfirstartpiecesasIdid this at the start of my IB Visual Artcourse. The theme of this piece is themystery of the gender identity spectrumand that theme has stuck with me fromthentillnow.WhatIdidforthisartpieceisthatIwanttoexploremyidentity frommyownperspective,aswedon’tjusthaveone side, we obtain a different identitywhen we treat different people. In thisparticular piece I exploredmy side as anactor. I am often cast as a female role indifferent productions and this part of mehas been with me since my very firstdrama production. I saw a picture of adragqueeninapicturesimilartothisandthat iswhat inspiredmetocreatethisartpiece.What I didwith this photograph isthat I took two pictures of myself in adifferent‘look’andmergedthemtogetherusingPhotoshop.Thispieceallowedmetoexplorewhathasbeeninsideme,apartofmy gender identity, which had not beenexpressedforotherstosee.ItallowedmetofindwhoIamasanartistandwhatmydesignandaestheticsare.

DescriptionThese are the original pictures that Itook for this piece but there is adifferentlightingandsetup.Comparingthis with the final product, there is ahuge difference. I had to change theshapeofmy face tomake it parallel, Ialso added some effects with thesmudge tool for the back ground tocreateasmokierbackdrop.InterpretationThisprojecthasallowedmetoexplorethe different parts of me and thishelped to realizewho I am aspired tobe.IwasabletodiscoverwhoIamasadesigner and whom I want to designfor.

DescriptionAs a designer, I have been experimenting withdifferent fabric anddifferentdesign styles. This isthefirstartfashionpieceIhaveeverdoneandthematerial I used were paper towels. I was deeplyinspired by a contestant on project runway JustinLeBlanc,thatdesignerdidafashionpiecewithtesttubesand that inspiredme tousematerials that Ihaven’t experimented before to make a fashionpiece. The initial design was to make ball gownwith a fuller skirt but I have decided to use allpaperwithoutanyfabric.Istartedtoconstructthebodicebyfoldingpapertowels.Ialsoconstructeda“corset”toholdtheshapeofthedress.Thisfashionpiece is Victorian era inspired with a ball gownsilhouette.IaddedsomevariationsasIloweredtheneckline and added fringes on the side of theshoulderstoaddsomepizzazztothepiece.InterpretationI designed this piece not only to experimentwith different materials, but also to challengemyself as a designer to try to work withdifferent shapes and silhouette with papertowelsandthispiecehelpedmetorealisewhatIcandoasafashiondesigner.

DescriptionThe skirt portion of the dress is done bylayering shorter pieces of paper towels on topandlongerlayersatthebottom.AreasonwhyIchosethematerialpapertowels is that itgivesmoremovementtodressasthematerialisverylightandas thereare layers, it creates volumewithout adding extramaterial under the skirt.This is a challenge for me, as I have neverattemptedtomakeadresswiththisdesignandIhaven’t trymakingadresswithoutcreatingapatternbeforehand.ThisisthefirsttimeIhaveever made a garment without fully planninghowtomake it,asIhavenotworkedwiththismaterialbefore. I alsoadded indifferent typesoftissuepaper,asIwantedtomixthetextureofsoftandhardtogivethedressmoremovementandflow.

InterpretationAmber Rose’s VMA outfit inspiresme to create this dress. It gives out positive connotations to thefemalebodyas females in the society is constantlybeing criticisedon theirweightandbeauty.ThestructureofthisdressisinspiredbyAlexanderMcQueenasheconstantlyusesdressstructuresfromtheVictorian or Edwardian era. The bodice has been createdwith 6 panels in order to create thatcorsetedshapeandthe fit to themodel. Ibelievethat femalesnowadaysshouldnotbecriticisedontheir bodyweight as everyone is different and there should not be a standard to how beauty is. Ipainted thewords on the skirt to encourage females, as they should not be ashamed of their bodybecauseeveryoneisbeautifulwhetheryouarefatorthin.

DescriptionThenecklineof the dress is embellishedwith silver sequence to give thedress pizzazz,whichcomplimentsboththecolourofthesleevesandthedress.Thetopportionofthedressisinspiredby designer Susan Hilferty’s design of the Glinda dress from the musical Wicked. With thisembroidery,itisabletogiveawowfactortothetopportionwithahintofhistoricalinfluence

DescriptionBeneaththeskirtportionof thedress,Iaddedacrinolineandapetticoattoadddomevolume to the skirt,with the circle shapeof the skirt, it is able togive the skirt somemorebody.Thisalsohelpstogivemorevolumesothatthewordswouldbemorevisibleasthesurfaceareawillbebigger.

DescriptionThis is a fashionpiece Ihavedoneforadramaproduction.Thetimeofthe play is in 1804 and it has aheavycircusthemetotheplaywithaVictorian/Edwardianinfluencetothis design. I chose this dresspattern because of its boldness.People at that time are veryconservative and covered up but Idesigned this tobemore revealingbecause this dress should bewornby the wife of the circus master.This character is a feminist and arebel. I gave her this look to showthat females couldwearwhat theywant without being judged. Theopencollaronthenecklinesignifiesher resistance towards socialnorms. The whole gown ishandmadebymeandthisgarmenttook me 1 week to finish theembellishments on the necklineand the whole corseted bodice,which ismadewith silk. There isalso a high slip on the side of theskirtwith a long train in the back,which helps to tell the audiencemoreaboutthischaracter,assheisedgyandfierce.Thesleevesonthisdressaremadewithsoftlacewhilethe neckline piece is made withorganza.

DescriptionThispieceoffashionillustrationisoneofthefirstillustrationsIhavedone.Withaninspirationofa peacock, I used the colours blue and green. I wanted to do something with a more uniquesilhouettesoIcreatedthissidev-necklinewithitextendingtothebodiceofthedress.Althoughthe mermaid dress pattern is widely used in the fashion industry but still I chose to use thispatternbecauseitmimicstheshapeofthepeacock.Withitstailwideopen,themermaidtailflowsbeautifullyjustlikeapeacockopeningitstail.InthisillustrationIusedmarkerasitallowsmetopresentthestructureofbodiceandthefluidityoftheskirt.