For my final project, I chose to make a visual diary consisting of notes and images. Together, the notes and images create a narrative and act as a written record of a young woman’s journey through a dream-like fantasy world that she has been transported to. The diary records the various places the main character sees, the various people she meets and the situations that she finds herself in.
My objective for this project was to create a piece of work that had narrative as a key element. This is because of my own personal interest in storytelling and my interest in both pictures and words. Constructing and conveying a narrative through a mix of writing and pictures was also an idea I had for my creative practice before I started the course and I felt that it would be a good line of enquiry for my final independent project. I wanted to use a range of materials and methods for this project because I felt that it would make the diary more interesting and memorable if the images were in different styles and mediums. Additionally, it allowed me to show my ability to work in different mediums. Throughout the project, I experimented with several mediums including paint, digital editing, 3D plaster casting, photography, collage and ink. I also tried using a steel scourer and foil as tools for painting. By the end of the project, I decided to use a mix of ink, collage, plaster, photography and digital editing to create the images, in addition to the writing.
The entire piece is meant to be a commentary on various women’s issues including harassment and violence. There is also a commentary on harmful ideas and attitudes about women that are still prevalent in modern society. The tragic deaths of Sarah Everard, Bibaa Henry, Nicole Smallman and Libby Squire (to name a few) and research into women’s issues made me want to raise awareness of the problems.
My work is intended to communicate two ideas. The first is that we need to discuss problems and attitudes that disproportionately affect girls and women. It is necessary because the safety of girls and women affects all of us in some way. The second is that, as a society, we need to do more to make sure that all feel safe and are treated with respect. Though my work is written from a female viewpoint, this is a problem that can affect anyone.
Warning: This art piece has dark themes. These include (but are not limited to) implicit and explicit mentions of topics such as stalking, violence and harassment. If you feel that reading about these things will negatively affect you, you can avoid looking at the notes and look at just the images or you can skip my work altogether.
Foundation Diploma in Art, Design & Media Practice - Epsom 
Amenie Curd | Pre-degree & Foundation Studies
