This series of two works are as titled: “Ambiguous Portrait” and “Madonna and Child?” both of these work were exhibited in the National Art School Gallery in the 2019 Grad Show (Undergraduate Exhibition).

These two works are playful and are reflective of my very playful personality. It is nostalgic and it serves as a reminder of one of my favourite things from childhood. The shooting process involved me playing with the toys and putting them through different poses and moving them around, the creative process itself was a process of play.

The plush toy in “Ambiguous Portrait” is obviously inanimate, but through the intimate way the toy is photographed I want to give it a new life, and through this new life, you the viewer can make your own narrative and use your imagination to give her a story. It is shot in such an intimate style and up close because I am trying to show the impact a plush animal could have on any child as it did on me, it provided emotional support, it was comforting and it brought out the most nurturing, most sentimental and most sensitive human emotions any person could hold.

In “Madonna and Child” it was a result of me being playful with these plush animals, I stuffed the lion in the Kangaroo’s pouch and after shooting it and looking at the piece I thought; “This really does look like a typical Madonna and Child painting” so I named it so. Through the process of play and experimenting I managed to coincidentally make something beautiful which serves as a reminder of what fine art really is, you play around with different elements to make something visually pleasing.

Special Mention-

This is the third component of my work which was not curated for exhibition but as a standalone piece, I personally view it as a highly intimate piece that would sit well with the series.

The plush lion shot in this light for me shows how strong the idea of play and nostalgia influenced this series. I see this series as a passionate, lionhearted ode to my favourite part of childhood which were plush animals.

The intimate manner that the animals are shot across my series is a reference to potential of a plush toy to support a child emotionally.