Blaxland High School
Love, Its Absence In Society, And Why I’ll Never Achieve It
Photomedia, photo on gloss print and photobook
Love, Its Absence In Society, And Why I’ll Never Achieve It is a story about my developing and fluctuating mental health. I developed my original concept about why love doesn't exist in late 2018 whilst I was in the process of being diagnosed with depression. Thanks to (Following) treatment and medication, my point of view on both society and my own physical form has changed, thus leading my concept to become a depiction of the journey I have taken; from the mental state I was in when I first created these artworks to where I am now. I have still kept the original title, however, serving as a reminder of where I started and how my mental health has improved.
As I took these images, I meticulously and self-consciously curated my appearance using a wired connection from my camera to my laptop, which I then remotely controlled via my phone. Inspired by artists such as Cindy Sherman, Sorelle Amore, and Rachel Gulotta, I have created these pieces as a freeze-frame of my fluctuating mental state throughout my artistic practice and process. The wall display paired with the photobook provide two unique story experiences, linear and nonlinear. My wall display shows the varied range of emotional states I experienced. Both composition and colour diversely differing from image to image symbolising my wavering mental processes brought to order by the photobooks linear display. I had captured over 2000 images, only 200 of which I edited, less than 100 of those to be displayed, which is why I included a web link to the rest of my images on the rear cover of the photobook, expanding the work to a multimodal/experiencial frame.
 |  | ARTEXPRESS is a joint partnership between The New South Wales Department of Education and NSW Education Standards Authority in association with Hazelhurst Arts Centre. |
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