Practitioner’s Statement “My world with Hope” Christine Liappas Hope. It is the light in darkness, the freedom when you’re trapped, the happiness at the end of the road, or as Emily Dickinson, a great poet puts it, it is a little bird within the soul that “sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.” Hope is something I believe keeps us going through life and all the things one may experience that turns the world dark. I wanted to express through ‘My world with Hope’ how important the belief that things can change, or the hope for a better life is to me. Because, my world without hope would be dull, empty, and just unhappy. I was greatly inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem, ‘Hope is the thing with Feathers,’ to create ‘My world with Hope’ as it is filled with so much beautiful imagery that I wanted to bring to life. I began illustrating these images from the text and developing the ideas to make them more personal to me. Not only did I use the poem as inspiration, but I was also influenced by Salvador Dali on a conceptual and technical level with his great use of symbolism, but also his use of colour. In particular, I appropriated ‘The Virgin of Guadalope’, 1959 (Oil on canvas, 200x130cm) and used it as a template for the composition. The focal point for “My world with Hope” is a girl who is in fact me. I thought it was appropriate to incorporate myself in this painting as it is personal and about my hope. The image of myself I used is important as it captured the tranquillity and peacefulness the idea of hope brings to my life, represented by the serene expression on my face. In the position of my heart is a door with a bird resting inside, and from this bird, feathers fall. ‘Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul...’ I have represented Hope as a bird, in particular the canary as they bring childhood memories of when we used to have them as pets and how I thought they were beautiful creatures; golden like the sun. With one hand, I hold the door open and I position the other below the door. Two other birds; the silvereye and rainbow lorikeet which are other birds I love, are flying out representing how part of me feels free, whilst the canary remains within my “soul” to convey how it, the hope, will always stay with me. Appropriated from ‘The Virgin of Guadalope,’ I wear a cloak that is surrounded by butterflies instead of roses, and have large butterfly wings behind me instead of a golden halo. Butterflies, like birds have wings representing freedom and the feeling of how hope can set you free from all the hardships you face. Inside my cloak, my body fades into sky and a beautiful landscape. It was necessary that I included a wide open land or valley as in the poem it states how hope is heard even in the “chilliest lands and on the strangest sea.” However, the fact that the landscape is positioned inside my cloak gives an alternate meaning. It represents exactly the title of the painting, my world with hope; a beautiful land, peaceful, colourful, with bright blue skies, when unhappiness may consume you; hence, the dark background which eventually fades to a yellow light where my upper body is. The background represents one of the ways I describe hope; the light in the dark. For “My world with Hope” I worked on a large scale to ensure I had more freedom to work with all the different elements of the painting, including the landscape, as well as all the intricate details such as the butterflies and pattern of the cloak. As it was such a large scale I had to be mindful of the way I used space. I did not want the background to be empty when enlarging the composition on canvas so I incorporated the light as well as butterfly wings. I used oil paints for the vibrancy and boldness of the colours which I thought would be more suitable for the imagery I wanted to incorporate. Working with oils, I began with washes and kept applying layers to build the colour and the different tones. I often used dry brush to enhance certain tones, particularly in my face. However, at times I worked alla prima and used texture especially with the butterflies around the cloak so that they could stand out and bring more dimension to the painting. I decided to use ink for the falling feathers as ink spreads freely which allowed me to create fine lines and the delicate appearance of feathers. Oils would not have been able to create such fine lines. To add an extra element, I incorporated copper leaf in the pattern of the cloak so that it could capture the light and glisten slightly. I have learnt that life is not perfect and people suffer in so many different ways, but Hope is what I live on to keep moving forward. “Hope” is the thing with feathers ‐ That perches in the soul ‐ And sings the tune without the words ‐ And never stops ‐ at all ‐ And sweetest ‐ in the Gale ‐ is heard ‐ And sore must be the storm ‐ That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm ‐ I’ve heard it in the chillest land ‐ And on the strangest Sea ‐ Yet ‐ never ‐ in Extremity, It asked a crumb ‐ of me. ‐Emily Dickinson