Olivia West

My work explores feminism and the fight for equality. I chose to portray a message about how women don’t always get their voices heard in society and are silenced as their opinion ‘doesn’t matter’. Emma Watson was my inspiration as she stands up for equality and says that we shouldn’t wait for someone else to speak up; say what you believe and make a change. “If not me, who? If not now, when?”. I used photography to show that women are silenced by putting tape over the mouth as a peaceful protest. Also, I wanted to give off an empowering badass look; using a blazer to give off tones of dominance, charge and power in the midst of a discriminating society.

I mainly looked at Victoria Villisana as she catches the eyes of others with her bold colours and patterns which are embroidered into the pictures of inspirational people of our time. It is like an invitation to remember them so their actions are not forgotten. I developed my work by embroidering in to my photos to portray my message of being suppressed by society. As I went further into the project, I developed my ideas and explored the themes of justice using typography as it foreshadows the idea of fighting for equality and making a change in society.

I enjoyed creating these pieces of work as art is a way of expressing yourself when you don’t have the words to say it. Art can help make a difference through its power to break through the sound barrier and challenge the way we live life in society from all ages – it taps into emotion and memory and can also have the ability to impact and influence great societal issues.