Arthur Foulkes

Arthur Foulkes
Man’s mirror, the inescapable madness 2022
oil, synthetic polymer paint, pastel and found images on canvas
Belmont High School, VCE Art

Arthur Foulkes
An ode to Orwell, after he stole my sanity 2022
hand-painted stoneware
Belmont High School, VCE Art

'Man’s mirror, the inescapable madness' Statement:

This painting depicts a man standing in an abstract representation of everything man has made and done. Man’s actions and consequences have created the society he sees. Consumerism, industrialization, law, order, money, drugs, poverty, government and war. When this man observes what is within the abstract ‘mirror’ he notices his contribution to society, entering an inescapable madness.

'An ode to Orwell, after he stole my sanity' Statement:'

An ode to Orwell, after he stole my sanity is a stoneware ceramic vessel, painted with oxides and glazes. Illustrating a figurative and abstract depiction of my sanity after reading George Orwell’s 1984. After reading Animal Farm I was amazed and engaged by Orwell’s political literacy, leading me to pick up his renowned 1984. After reading the text last year my perception of the world has changed and will never be able to return to its previous state. The book touches on countless themes surrounding our humanity such as sex, love and liberty, social class, censorship and secrecy, power, and the ruling government. Orwell’s text IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, WAR IS PEACE appears on my pot below the textural mess created with loop and modelling tools while the clay was greenware. The pot acknowledges Orwell’s genius and his literary work as culturally significant and relevant in a contemporary context. I have also drawn on works by Grayson Perry and Stephen Benwell, both significant and successful contemporary ceramicists. I transferred small sketches onto the surface of the bone-dry pot, incising them using an etching scribe and sequentially using underglaze and a small brush to paint two naïve figures – the figures are self-portraits as the pot describes my brain expansion or explosion after reading the book.