Diya Balasubramanian

Willetton Senior High School

Year 12

Oil on canvas

100 x 150 cm

‘Before We Drifted’ explores the emotional evolution of friendship in the digital age, portraying the quiet fear of growing apart as we grow older. Set in the intimate space of a bed, the composition captures three girls braiding each other’s hair—a gesture of closeness and trust. While the setting is deliberately subtle, the lighting, colour, and scale speak loudly. A dominant purple hue runs throughout the piece, symbolising nostalgia and emotional complexity, while warm lighting intensifies as the subjects advance to the foreground, suggesting the warmth of real connection.