Underneath the Mask

SuuKyi Kwang

Year 11

School: Mount Lawley Senior High School

Medium: Digital painting

Artist statement: My artwork ‘Underneath the Mask’ illustrates the masking of our natural personalities to conform to social pressures and repress experiences of neglect or abuse. I chose a young girl as my subject matter as I believe females are more likely to mask their experiences than any other demographic due to female adolescents being the most affected by society’s pressure to conform to social norms and repress negative emotions not considered socially acceptable. I incorporated a vivid contrast in saturation between the greyscale and pigmented hues along with high tonal variation to depict the difference between concealed and expressed emotions.