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Name: Lee Simmonds

School: Ranelagh School

Town: Bracknell

County: Berkshire

Year: Year 12

Inspiration: Inspiration for my work often comes from the desire to explore classical mythology and literature and take the fundamental of the narrative and bend it into my own expression. Developing original symbolism as well as including high levels of detail are, however, standard features of the artwork I produce. I feel this was impregnated into my creative processing after a visit to a pre-Raphaelite exhibition. The astounding detail particularly in clothing and the network of symbols adding to the carefully and delicately presented narrative became one of the highest forms of art I regard. The human form is such an incredibly complex, powerful, relatable and versatile subject matter and I have been consumed in interest for it, bending and changing it into both more beautiful and more obscured. I feel to have someone simply intrigued by what I produce deems the work successful; as ultimately it reflects the essential motive for mythology and literature: instilling a sense of a moral and emotion in the reader or viewer.

Title: The After-bath

Description: Taken from biblical mythology, this work plays on the story of Bathseba – visually presented in a way inspired by the master, Rembrandt, from his “Bathseba at her bath.” In this work he portrays a solmen part of the narrative where Bathseba reflects over the letter informing her of her husband's death. This piece was a result of exploring how women are both used and abused in mythological art, both by their narrative circumstances, yet also by their portrayal by the artist. The Baroque movement was heavily influential on this project which borught me Rembrandt, as it focusses on evoking emotion in the viewer, but the subjects from this movement are almost overpowered and put aside because of the stunning beauty of other features in the composition; and in my painting this feature is the dressing gown. To appreciate the patterns and varying textures in this component, I worked through a strict painting stategy, working from darkness to light. The concentration on facial details was also a way of expressing the profound thought and emotion the subject is experiencing, but didn't at all please my mum, saying she looked 20 years older!

Medium: Oil on canvas

Width: 75 Height: 100

Keywords: Bathseba, mythological painting, biblical, gown.