Mitsuki Morisaki

Exeter

I’ve always viewed different versions of myself as a part of who I am. Depending on the time, place, and frame of mind, I feel that I’m always a slightly different person. Each of my three paintings are representing different versions of me depending on the environment I’m surrounded by, the way different factors can modify me as a person, and how the different versions of myself influence one another.

Past versions of myself, for example, had very high expectations for my future self which I’m nowhere near meeting - I always aspired to be incredibly academically successful, but I feel like I’ve been failing my younger self recently. I'm no longer getting outstanding marks, I'm less motivated, and I'm not succeeding in academics as much as I should be. Law was something I dreamt of pursuing, but now I’m not even sure if I'm capable of getting into a

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YEAR 11 ART EXHIBITION BOOK | 2020 - 2021

decent university. The blue painting with me as a younger child, is portraying the pressure my expectations from years ago (and my younger versions of myself) cast on me.

I’ve travelled to a considerably large number of countries, and I think every single one of them helped me develop as a person, and build my personality. The painting with a morphed figure of myself shaped into a globe-like form, is representing how interacting with various cultures sort of taught me who I am as a person.

The green painting is a portrayal of myself in various states of mind - whether its anger, regret, or hopelessness that I’m feeling, it has a huge impact on my demeanour. I’ve spent the vast majority of my time for the last couple of months stressing over exams, letting go of things, and this painting is inspired by the overwhelming impact my thoughts and moods have on me sometimes. I looked into the technique of morphing portraits for this particular project using oil paint. I was searching for a suitable running theme in all my paintings, and that’s when I stumbled across a painting by Carl Beazley. Beazley mainly focuses on distorted portraits- and inspired by his work, I figured morphed faces would be the perfect match for what I’m doing with the theme events. I think I’ve learned quite a bit through developing this project, both technique wise and also who I want to be as an artist.

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