Mariel, age 17
Oil pastel on paper
This is an oil pastel drawing of a pub in Kensington. Initially, I wanted to create a piece in response to the barmaid in Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, as I found the mystery behind her countenance and reflection central to the piece. However, after researching the Folies-Bergère, I found myself drawn to its modernity and rich atmosphere. I began to think more about the established nature of the building itself, rather than it being just somewhere the barmaid worked. How, over time, such buildings evolve, becoming places of comforting consistency. My piece reflects this transition, capturing details of fleeting moments whilst maintaining the stability of these buildings and how they witness different types of people, like the barmaid, passing through.