Works by Natalie de Niese

Clarity

Clarity was an experimental and spontaneous creation that focused on playing with and responding to the softness of the sculpey clay. Achieving the curved tips by slowly pulling on the clay, which became a repeated technique used for each small clay sculpture made. To resolve the work, grouping the pieces together on a glass table, and incorporating light to create shadows onto the wall with the reflection from the glass table. Resulting with two shadows that create a dialogue with each other as they intersect with the light and dark versions of itself.

Release

Release focuses on the themes of movement and connection, referencing imagery of dancers and translating their realistic body into an abstract depiction. Working on a larger scale allowed for bigger gestural movements across the fabric, to emphasise the motion and energy radiating from the dancers by using soft edges and sharp lines.

I CAN’T BREATHE

I CAN’T BREATHE is responding to the Black Lives Matter movement and specifically a response to George Floyd’s death in America, as well as David Dungay Jr, an Indigenous man who died in custody in Sydney, Australia 2015. This artwork was created by painting on my body and then making impressions onto the fabric, in a sense using the body as a tool to bring the work to life. This intention, juxtaposing against how carelessly life can be taken without a second thought because of the person’s skin colour.

“I CAN’T BREATHE”

2020

Acrylic on calico fabric

46 x 80cm

Zoe Perks

Zoe Perks is currently a first-year student at RMIT, studying Creative Writing. Her passion lies in writing fiction, although she has begun to experiment with other forms and genres to recite stories of her family.