Painting 2 – Belonging and Performance

This work depicts three female figures posed in front of a stylised architectural backdrop. Their heads are detailed in acrylic paint, while their bodies are collaged from sewn fabric, creating a tactile, almost sculptural presence. The figures perform casual gestures, a peace sign, a smile, a confident stance, embodying a negotiation of identity within the school environment.

The background outlines a school corridor, rendered in linear perspective but left skeletal and unfinished. The corridor represents the institutional space of everyday life, a place that frames movement and interaction yet also imposes rules and surveillance. By leaving it incomplete, I suggest that belonging is never fully secured; identity within school remains provisional and continually redefined.

The use of real textiles references uniforms, blurring the line between painted representation and lived material, while also pointing to external presentation as a strategy for cultural integration.

Outcome: This painting reflects the tension between performing identity and seeking belonging in a new cultural environment. The corridor outlines emphasise how school architecture shapes the stage on which identity is both performed and contested.