For my Term 2 Art Project our grade went on an expedition to the National Art Gallery Singapore. We analysed a number of intricate pieces and learnt about the artists and the interesting meaning behind the fascinating paintings. Each and every piece of art had a different colour palette, a variety of shades and utilised different techniques to create unique details. I took inspiration from this and created my own painting. I chose a famous piece by F.X. Harsono called "What Would You Do If These Crackers Were Real Pistols?" This style of art is referred to as 'Found Art' , which means the piece of art is created from materials that do not have an art function and are not considered art mediums . Harsono used rice crackers shaped as pistols and stacked them in a pile. He placed a wooden desk with a book and pen so viewers can interact and answer the question "What would you do if these crackers were real pistols?" I think that this piece of art contains so much meaning and is a really unique way of expressing one's thoughts while engaging the viewers. My work in progress Harsono's work was the inspiration for my art piece. As soon as I saw it in the National Gallery, I felt moved by the meaning behind it and could appreciate that it represented a significant point in the artist's life. 

I decided to base my work on FX's design because I felt it was an effective technique for illustrating a significant point in my life. Covid—19 impacted me in many ways. As soon as the first covid case was announced my family became extremely vigilant and careful. As the cases rose in Singapore, our family went back to New York (where I am from) for a few weeks. This protected me from, at the time, a "dangerous" virus but it was also life changing. We soon realised the scale of the virus and its enormous global impact. Online school, wearing masks, contact tracing, temperature checks, covid tests, sanitizing and vaccinations became the new normal. It wasn't until everything finally subsided that people started to process what we had all been through. It was sad to have missed so many years of 'normal life'. 

I depicted the coronavirus into my piece by adding foam hemispheres around the canvas and painting them green with a smattering of red and black. I created this colour by mixing green and blue. I added a touch of black and dabbed it on with a thick brush. I then dotted some faint hints of red on the foam balls. I added metal screws to the foam to represent the virus spikes. Metal was my chosen material because I wanted to portray the sharp penetrating effects the virus had on our lives . I chose a dark red wash for my canvas as a homage to Harsono's piece. The traces of black and dark red around the virus add depth and create contrast in the painting. I attached covid—19 items, things that we will never forget about, such as masks and test kits. As we were required to include numbers into our artwork, I added '2019' since it marks the beginning of the covid era — one that we will never forget. To do this, I printed out the numbers and used a craft knife to carefully cut out the inside of the number. After that was done, I mixed black paint with a hint of white and created a grey tone to represent the bleak time of 'The Pandemic'. I used a damp sponge to add the paint to the cut-out stencil, blotted it to give it a rough look, and then added a thin black outline around the numbers to give it depth.