Juliana Mendes

As an artist, I always try my best to make things look as “perfect” as possible and constantly put pressure on myself. It’s fair to say I’m the most critical of my artwork. I took this opportunity to challenge myself and create a piece that reflects an important topic to me and many others; our environment. The single living rose represents our governments and how they continue to care more about money than the well-being of our environments. The world as a whole is being destroyed due to our busy lives and the mass pollution of factories and vehicles. Our ecosystems are suffering. Ambrosius Bosschaert is an artist I referenced in my piece by keeping a dark flat colour as the background. Using my own vision, I painted dead flowers instead of living ones. I used acrylic paint because it’s a medium that I usually struggle with. I added texture using paintbrushes to keep the feeling of balance. My piece reflects our “not so busy” lives and what it has come to.