art making & exhibiting 2023

caitlyn shaw

Unknowingness, 2023

3rd artwork in the ‘Life’ series.

Oil paint on canvas, 75 x 60cm

Using a detailed yet minimalistic painting style, Shaw compares the expectations of the past and future, drawing on the future side, complying with the uncertainty that comes with it. Exhibiting a black and white background, alongside a detailed expressive figure, as well and a detailed full moon, the use of oil paints has congregated an interpretation on the fear of not knowing what lies in the future. Created at the forthcoming of Shaw’s end to their high school years, the uncertainty of what is coming can be seen and depicted in the detailed expression of the representative’s face in the bottom right corner, alongside the black and white tonal coverage, portraying a blank start to filling in the prospect of the future. The full moon has been used as a symbol to portray the previous artworks in the series, ‘reflecting on how far you have come’ not only in the oeuvre of the series, but in life itself. Each line on Shaw’s artwork represents a line of memory, or event that has not yet been fulfilled, flowing with the use of oil paints through two artworks in the series, creating a rhythm through the lives of people viewing.

Mirrored, 2023

1st artwork in the ‘Life’ series.

Oil paint on canvas, 60.5 x 45.5cm

Using a minimalistic, realist oil painting style, the idea of looking back at the past is strongly shows, contrasting the memories created by your present. It aims to join the two together, using neutral purples and minimal vibrant colours, which joins the relationship between your present and past self. The concept of looking through the square can either depict a mirror or a window, which can show how life can pass as quickly as the time it takes to look out a window.

Surroundings, 2023

2nd artwork in the ‘Life’ series.

Digital Manipulation on Procreate

The concept of the present is seen thorough a digitally manipulated drawing, completed on procreate, exhibiting the child attempting to live in the future, with the older figure attempting to look back on the past, showing the confusion and fearfulness of attempting to live in the present.