IDENTITY IB HIGHER ART | OLIVER BALDOCK STUDIO SUBMISSION
Identity is inherently connected to the world around us in ways more enumerable than we can imagine. I wanted to capture how we affect our surroundings and how they affect us, an almost symbiotic nature. I began to play with the presentations of landscapes, predominantly the typical tourist attractions, using both larger scale and smaller snippets of architecture to capture the essence of a location. Having, however, seen both Grayson Perry’s ‘Print for a politician,’ and Annette Messagers’ exhibitions, I intended to make the art personal, to envelop the audience into my pieces and perhaps conjure a smile. These ideas have begun within the three portraits whose faces are embossed with their architectural relations. The landscape integrates with the portrait, an unexpected combination that adds another dimension to an otherwise flat piece of work. This theme of ‘Another Dimension,’ has been picked up and carried through my work since. My sardonically entitled ‘Epic’ captures, not only the political parties influencing education, but also a comical look on the land over which they presided. The detailed pen capturing the contrast of black and white leaves little room for colour in my work. This preference led on to my work in charcoal, a medium that provided further texture and depth to the context of my work. Economics has provided the biggest influence for my work, the study of the subject has ensured my mind is filled with the latest faces, be it Michael Gove or Angela Merkel, and the combination of this with the production of my architectural portfolio for university application has ensured a societal focus. My work is not perfect, but I do not pretend it is, I want viewers to share and explore my raw ideas, just take a step closer. Oliver Baldock