BROGAN TEGGART

Throughout my time studying BA Fine Art my practice has primarily concerned exploring psychological themes such as the uncanny, nightmares, terror, fear of death, psychoanalysis and mental illness; I have often expressed these concepts by creating responses to various emotional states as well as narratives through fragmenting a chosen subject. I have continuously been visually exploring these themes through experimenting with various mediums, however I frequently return to my fundamental techniques of drawing and painting. The subjects of my work have often consisted of the human form through looking at decayed ruins of Renaissance sculpture, moving onto to recreate them upon the canvas through exaggerating and deconstructing its form to express a certain mood. My paintings and drawings often depict images which are purely figurative while obscuring the subject to relate to the abstract expressionist movement, marrying subjects of the conscious and the unconscious world. The compositions of the work often consists of a combination of colour theory, poetic allusions and symbolism in order to engage with psychological associations with various themes and concepts, especially if the work sparks feelings of uncertainty and discomfort. The subject matters in my work are also influenced by my interest in poetry and philosophy from formerly studying both, specifically the poetry of Jim Morrison and Allen Ginsberg as well as the philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche. How I will ultimately depict these themes physically are often influenced by artists such as Francis Bacon, Mark Rothko, Frida Kahlo and Francisco Goya, whose paintings are often a result of the struggles they have had to deal with in their real lives. Any narratives in my works were strongly influenced by David Lynch, of whom used cinematic techniques to create an allusive narrative that allows the audience to be more concerned with their emotional response to the imagery and sound they are presented with, rather than any story indicated.
In my first and second years my work has been largely produced independently as I am a confident self-sustaining worker, however I have newly been involved in a collaborative with two of my peers of which has allowed me to develop my skills and ideas in the context of a supporting group. This has been a great opportunity to develop my chosen mediums of interest, installation, painting and drawing, through exchanging ideas and viewing my work in the context of others.