Liesl Schmidberger

Willetton Senior High School

Year 12

Oil paint on canvas

60.5cm/92cm/4cm

My artwork depicts myself looking into a bathroom mirror, and a different version of myself reflected back. The figure in the mirror represents the idealized self; the person you want to be or how you want to be perceived, but this idealized self is unachievable. It exists in the mind, but not in reality. When you touch a mirror there is always a gap between yourself and your reflection, just as there are gaps between how you perceive yourself, how others perceive you, and how you want to be perceived. The cracks in the mirror over the reflections empty eye represent the cracks in the fantasy of what you want to see versus what is actually there. My painting style is realistic, reflecting my attention to detail as an artist.