Hannah Guest
SCEGGS Darlinghurst
A FAMILIAL TAPESTRY
Collection of Work
Acrylic on wood, found objects
My body of work investigates personal identity and the family’s role in shaping self-perception. It represents the diversity of my family members’ lives, moving from portraits to an abstracted cube. My intention in painting the portraits on wood was to illustrate how elements of identity converge to form the individual. Their gradual deconstruction shows how identity is not one-dimensional but is complex and ever-changing. The 3D cube integrates family objects from shared experiences of our collective identity. With the layering referencing geological strata, it communicates the interconnectedness of our histories, while the interactive feature conveys childhood playfulness and life’s journey.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Lucian Freud, Marisol (Marisol Escobar), Tony Cragg.
Marker's Commentary
This artwork titled A Familial Tapestry is a contemporary investigation into the genre of portraiture and an exploration of how families nurture and form our identity through an innovative use of material and conceptual practice. Consisting of four parts, this is a substantial body of work, each exploring the representation of portraiture as subject matter through deconstruction and abstraction. In the first series of four portraits, the artist demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of portrait painting with expressive use of brushwork and colour across the assorted building blocks which form the painting surface. The next series of portraits of the same family members continue on blocks, which begin to fragment with the inclusion of coloured building blocks. In the final row of portraits, the artist has further abstracted the form, isolating elements of facial features and clothing, reducing their representative form to small references.
The artist continues to explore the materiality of portraiture through sculpture in the 3D cube, which seeks to mimic a geological stratum. Each layer represents various family objects to exploring shared histories, deep connections, and collective family identity fostered throughout the subjects’ lives. This interactive element is playful and humorous, also challenging the genre of portraiture and the way identity can be represented and interpreted through abstraction and found objects.