1.Imaginary Friends

Watercolour on paper (artist book)

Unit 4 Art Making and Exhibiting

“Imaginary Friends”, explores the central theme of being “Alone but not Lonely”, and in particular, the way in which children use their imagination to evolve their circumstances and lives into ones with more colour and joy. The series of paintings arranged in a storyline of the main child slowly being joined by his imaginary friends, is strongly influenced by both the artists inspiration from children’s books that she grew up reading, and her own imaginary friends, which played a large role in her childhood and development. The growing tree that each painting centers around, represents how imagination can make one feel more whole and help bring more life to someone’s situation, and the main child gaining a friend who appears to be around his age, appeals to his want or even need for a friend like him. Throughout each painting, beginning with the second one, there is a butterfly that moves throughout the piece, and was incorporated to allow each viewer to find their own meaning of it, and the artist requests that each viewer takes the time to consider what the butterfly might mean in order to gain a deeper connection with this highly personal piece. There is also the inclusion of the tooth fairy and a flying pig in the final piece, a connection to the artists childhood experiences, The artist has experience working with water colour and found that using this medium allowed for the aesthetic qualities to be more powerful, as well as sticking to her own visual language. When viewing this piece, the artist hopes that the audience experiences joy, comfort and even nostalgia as these were key aesthetic qualities in the artists vision of creating this piece. While this final piece may not be technically perfect, the colour palette and subject matter chosen is very effective in the execution of the artists vision and plays a crucial role in the meaning and depth behind the paintings. ​