Aurelia Puleio

Gandhi resists

57 x 38cm

2022

The artwork I appropriated is called ‘Gandhi Returns’ by the artist Textaqueen created in 2013. It depicts Gandhi in an ethereal, yet war-like background spotlighting him wounded and injured. Textaqueen is an Indian-Australian artist whose work mainly revolves around identity, sexuality, and self-expression. Like their name, Textaqueen works with the medium of fibre tip pens to created colourful, in-depth pieces. I chose to appropriate this artwork out of curiosity because of the complex character Gandhi has been found to be. Amongst his heroic spiritual and political movements, lie disturbing stories of paedophilia and attempts to “resist temptation” by forcing young relatives to sleep naked in his bed. I recontextualised this artwork by expressing the power imbalance and status Gandhi used to take advantage of vulnerable young women. Using puppet strings carrying children’s toys, I’d like to convey the innocence and childhood he stole to further his own cause and wore as a badge of honour.

Harry Holder

Untitled

28 x 38cm

2022

I changed the fallen angel from ‘Lucifer’ to a character from a book series, ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’, Dio. I felt that the character had similarities to Lucifer. I wanted to change the background by adding dark clouds and lightning to make it seem more ominous. I also added a full moon just because it felt right. I added birds to show that the lightning is loud and scared them away. The original piece had thorns on the rock, but I decided to make them twirl around his leg and eventually turn into a snake showing that pretty things can be poisonous, just like Lucifer. I also added a character behind Dio which in the book series is a character that was manifested by Dio’s soul. The two together make each other seem menacing. I chose that pose because Dio hides this character to surprise his opponents.

Joel Scherwinski

The Dream Man

Prismacolor pencils, 340gsm European watercolour paper beige

23 x 30cm

2022

This is the The Dream Man based off the artwork by artist, El Greco. I appropriated the artwork by changing the shape of his face as well as making the artwork just the man’s head floating on the page. I made it very colourful with a swirl around is face and head, like a lion with its mane. I used my own style to make the man more modern and colourful. I like using colour because it makes it less boring. I used my three favorited colours; blue, pink and light purple. For the colour of the man’s skin, I used a range of beige tones to blend the right colour. I also used a beige paper for the background to give it extra contrast and make the drawing pop out more, but also go well with the background. I would like to make a few different versions with different people and with the same colours and same head floating on the page. I might find some similar drawings from the same time frame this one was made and base the new ones on them. I was happy with the texture of the face.

Moscow Roller

Untitled

Medium-Progresso and 2b pencil on paper

48.5 x 39cm

2022

My artwork is a take on Matthias Grünewald artwork, ‘Isenheim Altarpiece Detail: The Resurrection’. It was made from 1512 to 1516. I enjoyed looking at it and thinking about the meaning of it. The artwork is of an altarpiece in a church and is deeply religious. I chose this artwork to appropriate because I think it is very beautiful and is a blank canvas to appropriate. I think the ideas about rebirth and renewing discussed in this painting are interesting. Ideas about life not existing without death will be the foundation for my work. I will recontextualize this by changing the Jesus figure into a different figure. it will be inspired by Peter Booth using inspiration from one of his darker figures and one of the knights into something else whether that be a bird or something else. I would like to paint the sun using gouache paints, which drew me to the painting. I will be using Progresso and pencil to add lines and shading to recreate Grunewald’s painting.

Poppy Mollett

Somebody’s Baby Now

41 x 31cm

2022

Somebody’s Baby Now is an appropriation of Del Kathryn Barton’s 2008 artwork ‘Nobody’s Baby Now’ inspired by Nick Cave’s 1994 tragic ballad to forsaken love. The piece features a letter starring several lines of Cave’s song ‘Nobody’s Baby Now’ which was later remastered in 2011. My mum always had a keen interest in Nick Cave and loved to read his books and listen to some of his music, so I decided to address the letter to her instead and write a letter to her. This piece is devoted to my mum who has such a strong impact on me and the way I percept the world, so I wanted to give back to her through this. One of my favourite music artists is Taylor Swift so I used the lyrics to her song “The Best Day” in the letter. The piece is appropriated using multiple mediums; water colour, gouache, fine liner, gel pens, ink, and acrylic paint and is displayed on a piece of water colour paper.

Saskia McKellar

The Slaughterman’s Shop

Gouache on Canvas

55cm x 40cm

2022

This artwork was based on a work by Annibale Carracci titled ‘The Butcher’s Shop’. The artwork was made during the years of 1582 to 1583. His style can be seen as boring and stiff, but during his time it was seen as innovative. It was a pathway into a new type of realism in Baroque art. As I was flicking through an old art book I stumbled across this art piece, I had seen many and none of them spoke to me as much as this one. My head was flooded with ideas as soon as I saw it. I first tried to understand the artwork and list meanings of it. I interpreted the art as old, boring and controlled by men. I decided to make it into a disturbing version where women were working in the shop, but instead of working with meat they were working with parts of human males. It amuses me quite a lot when I think about it because of how shocking it is for some people.

Jasper Alves-Geisler

Untitled

Oil on canvas

37 x 26cm

2022

The artwork I appropriated was The Blue Boy. The Blue Boy was painted by Thomas Gainsborough in 1770 using oil on canvas. The Blue Boy is considered one of the greatest artworks of the 18^th century and is still famous to this day. I chose to appropriate this artwork because I really liked the colours. I appropriated this artwork by making The Blue Boy a skeleton soldier on a beach surrounded by blood. I did this because he is very innocent in the original and I wanted to show that soldiers aren’t always strong and brave like we see in the movies. They’re often just scared young people who won’t make it home.

Miller Virtanen

Late Sunday Morning

Gouache and pastel on canvas

28cm x 51cm

2022

My artwork is an abstract take on a classic old painting with a grander and different feeling created by the abstract gravity defying space-like piece. My artwork is an abstract appropriation of the piece ‘Early Sunday Morning’ by Edward Hopper in 1930. The original is made of light browns, greens, oranges and reds. It contains shadows that all lay almost flat and in a soft light. The artwork I have appropriated was painted in America with oil paint on canvas. It was created to represent the simplicity of a Sunday. The painting is 6ft by 3ft. All three of the buildings are two stories, with the bottom stories being storefronts. I chose to appropriate this piece because of the simplicity, and the way that is appears serene and can capture emotion and the life of someone in that time. I recontextualised the art piece by splitting the original painting, having a background change from sky to space and making one piece of the building higher than the other, with an elevator between them.