Portrait of Two Women, Kayanne and Faye

Roberta, Year 14

  • Painting
  • Oil paint on board
  • 940(w) 1500(h) 100(d) mm

This piece was created in response to conversations amongst my friends surrounding the concept of femininity - what makes us feel or appear feminine? From this, I decided to use both tropes and transgression of the traditionally feminine; while their harsh body language asserts itself to the viewer, the intrusion of the table and flowers splices through this with a reminder of domesticity. In the composition, I took the idea of restriction in feminity and created something quite claustrophobic, with only the opened door, spilling out light, to alleviate this. The scale of the piece allowed me to play around with styles of brushstrokes, large ones spanning across the table and smaller details in the figures, all with the aim of realism holistically, but more intriguing textures when explored closely.