Art School
Gupta, Kajol. Cosmic Connection. 2024, Multimedia : paper Mache, polystyrene, fabric, rhinestones, beads, makeup, pins, paint
Through ‘Cosmic Connection’ I want to communicate the beauty of human life and how we are so specially linked with and related to the very elements that are abundant in our universe and initially created everything we know. A bust which symbolises the human body and existence will be tightly draped with black fabric, which will be embellished with rhinestones, beads, and paint. I aim to make the viewer contemplate their existence and our place as humans amongst a celestial universe. I love the universe and have a close connection with astronomy related knowledge, I’ve loved the universe since a young age, I even had a moment in preschool where I didn’t want to leave my parents and go to preschool - however my parents proceeded to show me a slideshow of the universe and I stopped crying. I find the universe to be a mysteriously beautiful natural phenomenon, which makes humanity feel special as well as we share atoms that could possibly date back 13 billion years in the past. I always feel that humanity is often too focused on small things, and not the big picture, that we are part stardust and also deserve appreciation as we are such a special species in a beautiful universe.
GRADE: DISTINCTION
Gupta, Kajol. Socially Unsociable. 2024, Acrylic paint & correction pen on canvas, 30 x 40cm
My artwork ‘Socially Unsociable’ is an acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40cm painting based on the topic of disruption through addiction & absence. Absence is explored in my artwork through the lack of individuality of the B&W persons in my artwork, who can be seen but are absent as they are obviously addicted to their phones and focused solely on their screens. My parents would often complain about my phone use, and say ‘back in my day kids didn’t use phones, phones are the biggest cause of sickness and laziness’’. Although my parents strongly declared their hate for phones, I always see them on their phones, whether it’d be for WhatsApp, youtube, youtube shorts, etc. I always feel as if when I stop using my phone and walk out of my room to sit with my parents and talk to them, they are already engaging in their usual phone addiction. Antisocial behaviour is something I am familiar with. I myself was very addicted to my phone and ignored the world outside my phone, even looking around in my daily commutes and even at my own friends I can see antisocial behaviour which is caused by addiction to phones. I resonate with the only coloured character in the painting, who with her furrowed and annoyed expression maintains eye contact with the viewer. Similarly to the central character of my artwork, I am now more inclined to stay away from the media and want to be present through rejecting the distractions from the phone. The artwork has a crowd of many people, however they are socially online on their mobile devices, hence why I called the work ‘Social Unsociable’, as they are literally present as they can be seen but are mentally distracted and absent.
GRADE: DISTINCTION
Gupta, Kajol. Fairy Secret. 2024, Multimedia : wood, wire, reflective paper, polymer clay, acrylic paint, faux flowers/grass, beads
‘Fairy Secret’ is a multi-media artwork which combines the art of sculpture, painting, and woodwork to form a mystical fairy scenery. It was my childhood dream to be in a fairy world, just as I had seen in films such as ‘Barbie: Fairytopia’. I have always been interested in the concept of escaping reality, which I have thought about often especially after graduating from high school and joining University. Growing up is something that has always scared me, the thought of having to leave and see others leave is something that always unsettles me. To cope with my angst of getting older, I often look back at childhood memories, like barbie films and old cartoons I used to watch. ‘Fairy Secret’ is a bioscope, a form of entertainment which has been used in India for decades as a form of escaping reality and admiring a new world. As I am Indian, and have been to India myself and seen through a bioscope, I have been obsessed ever since. My parents would tell me stories of the bioscope salesmen that they saw in their childhood. Looking through a bioscope united the idea of childhood memory and my urge to escape the reality of growing up, through transporting into a fairy landscape.
GRADE: DISTINCTION
Gupta, Kajol. The Birth of Lakshmi. 2025, Acrylic on canvas
My artwork “The Birth of Lakshmi” effectively portrays the action of copying through the technique of appropriation. My artwork is an appropriation of Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’, an artwork which is very popularly celebrated around the world for its beauty & visual narrative of Venus. I appreciate the artwork, however I feel a disconnect with my personal self and the artwork due to my cultural and religious background which does not align with Botticelli’s painting. In the modern art world, there has been a recent ‘push’ for displaying the art of coloured artists, however I believe that the art world is still very Eurocentric. The most prestigious art museums house predominantly ‘white’ made art, which has made me think about how little the work of south-Asians is celebrated around the world. I myself am an Indian Hindu, and struggle to find art that I can relate to or appreciate truly with relation to my ethnic and religious background. During my artmaking process, I came across a quote of Emmanuel Kant which read: “...humanity attains its utmost perfection within the white race”, this quote made me think about how little of other cultures we are taught in education, despite the verbal push for multiculturalism and acceptance of diversity. I’ve been to museums and galleries, but there is little to no South-Asian artists/artworks I can find. Therefore I wanted to appropriate an artwork which is so loved by the very white dominated artworld, ‘The Birth of Venus’. I appropriated the work by substituting Venus with the hindu goddess Lakshmi, I myself am Hindu and felt as though Lakshmi is the most beautiful goddess to me. Both Venus and Lakshmi were born from the waters, and represent beauty and prosperity. Initially I wanted to use a tempera or oil paint but I felt as though I should use multiple mediums to break away from the traditionally used practice, denying the use of these allowed me to express myself seamlessly & with ease. I used a variety of materials such as acrylic paint, soft pastels, chalk, and rhinestones to create the painting, consequently disrupting the traditional 2d medium by using both flat and 3d materials to produce the painting. Direct appropriation of such a recognized piece of European art, further allowed me to express my own cultural & religious self, something which I struggle to do in a predominantly white dominated art industry.
GRADE: DISTINCTION
Gupta, Kajol. Pocket Universe. 2025, Black Nylon fabric, beads, rhinestone, makeup, bulldog clips, safety pins, black cotton thread, mirrors, fairy lights
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My artwork ‘Pocket Universe’ actively engages with the concept of an endless universe & thenever-ending illusion it conveys. ‘Pocket Universe’ is inspired by my existentialist thoughts & myfear of the universe, which I aimed to achieve for the audience in my artwork. I love the aestheticqualities of the universe, and appreciate its existence - however what unsettles me is the unknowndepth and size of it. I am a big space nerd, and visited the Sydney Observatory to stargaze,however when it was my turn to view ‘Alpha Centauri’ I became worried to see its imagethrough the telescope. My inability to view Alpha Centauri through the telescope was fueled bymy fear of the unknown conformity of the universe & personal challenges associating my purposewithin such a large and beautiful universe. To communicate my fear in the form of art, I utilisedmaterials such as: an 80cm x 80cm Mirror, various kinds of beads including glow in the darkbeads-seed beads-chrome beads, small mirrors, small rhinestones, body glitter, eyeshadow, 7m ofblack Nylon fabric, 4m of fairy lights. The base of a black opaque fabric represents the ‘fabric ofthe universe’ which I’ve embellished with rhinestones, makeup, and beads by hand to mimic theappearance of stars and planets within the night sky. The focal point of my piece is the trippinessof the dark starlit universe, which I maintained with the use of a 80cm x 80cm circular mirror inthe interior’s center within the artwork. The mirror reflected the whole fabric - furtherestablishing a never-ending appearance / image of the universe.
GRADE: DISTINCTION
Gupta, Kajol, Just LOOKING, 2025, Projection of Digitally rendered video, ClipStudio Paint PRO, Microsoft Clipchamp.
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My digital artwork ‘Just LOOKING’ effectively engages with the Self-directed assignment through personal narrative conveyed via a digital medium. My artwork is a striking video edit of a digital painting which presents a revisitation of my traumatic experience at an ophthalmologist hospital clinic, where I was looked at by specialists and where the state of my sight was ‘examined’. Going to the Ophthalmologist was a repetitive event, where I would ask about the condition of my eyes and get no response and would be told, “We are just looking” It was a repetitive loop. During one specific appointment, I was surrounded by 7 medical professionals in the same room as me, watching me, staring at me, their every look was scrutinising, it made me feel as though I was trapped in a living nightmare.
To create this effect, I integrated an uncanny valley photobashing style, inspired by the game ‘No, I’m not human’. The uncanny and lifeless faces of the ophthalmologists staring at the viewer were key in communicating my personal experience, and how horrific it felt to be seated in that position. I deliberately chose to work with a digital medium, as looking at a screen for too long can make my eyes sore, which is directly related to my perspective being a sore sight for me to look back on. The layout of the artwork is crowded, with people, posters, chairs and computers shadowing almost every corner of the screen. This was intentional and heightened a sense of overwhelmingness within my work alongside the accompaniment of strobe + VHS light overlays and an audio track containing dialogues of doctors muttering the names of diseases and laughing, further evoking the surreal, nightmarish experience & visual irritation I felt as I was examined and left with no answers.
GRADE: DISTINCTION