Artist’s Statement

I firstly wished to create artwork in relation to folklore or fairy tales. I debated whether to focus on Eastern or Western stories. But in the end, I thought it would be interesting to see if I could try to intertwine the two different cultures together. I aim to show and explore the similarities of Western and Eastern cultures by contrasting cultural tales which mirror important plot points in both cultures. For example, Cinderella and Yè Xiàn (叶限). I furthered this idea by drawing on and melding together, art styles well-known in Western and Eastern cultures such as Ukiyo-e, a very famous part of Japanese artworks. Furthermore, ukiyo-e inspired Art Nouveau, an art style which became a prominent aesthetic during the Romantic era in Europe. Some of the works, especially acrylic parts, were also influenced by impressionism style I utilised watercolours, gouache and acrylics. I juxtaposed watercolours against acrylics (which I mainly used for parts of foreground or for the focus of the artwork) to better highlight the focal points of the drawings since acrylics have a more three-dimensional texture. When trying to make smaller details stand out (for example, ribbons or some rocks) I used gouache to make the objects more vibrant against the watercolours. 

May was a Year 12 Art Production student at The Friends’ School in 2022 and the co-recipient of The Friends’ School’s 2022 Visual Arts Prize. May’s work was also chosen to be part of Tasmania’s ArtRage 2022 touring exhibition. The 8 artworks here comprise the whole of May’s exhibition. Scroll further for enlargements of images and details of artworks.