Fading Into Abstraction

Marga Van Rensburg

Year: 11

School: Shenton College

Medium: Pencil on paper, marker on acetate, acetate, print on cartridge, Wood, metal, Electrical wire

Artist statement: The subject I choose was loneliness because regardless of duration and intensity, it is something that most people have experienced. The progression of my work changes from being the most natural and realistic impression of a person in the first rendered pencil drawing and becomes a more abstract form of itself using marker and acetate. The progression is amplified by the fact that the pencil sketch doesn’t have a light behind it, compared with the other three lit up behind the light box frames. The brightest light is behind the least abstract drawing and the least bright behind the most abstract, illuminating the text behind them. The text is made up of a combination of lines from songs by One Republic, Of Mice & Men and the community that are related to the topic. The composition emphasises the idea that I am trying to communicate a sense of isolation and an inability to connect, highlighted by the division of the light box frames. Loneliness is a relative social norm in modern day society, which has affected most people, including myself, and the people I am connected to. I hope my piece connects with others and helps to create awareness of this issue.