Just Got to Stay Positive

£1,000.00

Acrylic and spray paint on stretched canvas.

Just Got to Stay Positive is an acrylic painting inspired by mental health concerns. It strives to portray a message of irony, connecting what we are told in messages of support and how we should behave to help ourselves, with what is truly being experienced in the mind. What is being experienced is often much harder to deal with than simply staying positive and often this comment can trivialize the complexity of emotions someone is feeling. I want to present to the viewers that it can be exhausting trying to maintain a positive mindset for a long period of time when in fact, the energy required for this is simply not available. This is demonstrated through the visual representation of a nude woman trying to "push back" against the significant, heavy load she is feeling against her back. I hope that the viewers will be able to relate to this struggle or at least be moved to consider this paintings message. A mixture of vulnerability and yet power are important driving themes in this work. Looking inwardly and being a lot kinder to ourselves, rather than trying to just push on, gives us an opportunity to truly recognise how we are feeling and to help healing to begin. Thus this painting also represents resilience.


Blocks of colour are spray painted on in geometric shapes and lines, with the contrast of the multi-tonal nude woman drawing the eye downwards and to the corner of the painting. The figure's position within this painting has been considered carefully because I wanted to portray a struggle which has been side-lined and overlooked by the individual themselves.


Acrylic paint on professional quality stretched canvas.


24 W x 30 H x 0.9 D inches

Acrylic and spray paint on stretched canvas.

Just Got to Stay Positive is an acrylic painting inspired by mental health concerns. It strives to portray a message of irony, connecting what we are told in messages of support and how we should behave to help ourselves, with what is truly being experienced in the mind. What is being experienced is often much harder to deal with than simply staying positive and often this comment can trivialize the complexity of emotions someone is feeling. I want to present to the viewers that it can be exhausting trying to maintain a positive mindset for a long period of time when in fact, the energy required for this is simply not available. This is demonstrated through the visual representation of a nude woman trying to "push back" against the significant, heavy load she is feeling against her back. I hope that the viewers will be able to relate to this struggle or at least be moved to consider this paintings message. A mixture of vulnerability and yet power are important driving themes in this work. Looking inwardly and being a lot kinder to ourselves, rather than trying to just push on, gives us an opportunity to truly recognise how we are feeling and to help healing to begin. Thus this painting also represents resilience.


Blocks of colour are spray painted on in geometric shapes and lines, with the contrast of the multi-tonal nude woman drawing the eye downwards and to the corner of the painting. The figure's position within this painting has been considered carefully because I wanted to portray a struggle which has been side-lined and overlooked by the individual themselves.


Acrylic paint on professional quality stretched canvas.


24 W x 30 H x 0.9 D inches