Visualizing Family Expectations of The Youngest Child Through Mixed-Media Painting

Abstract

This study aims to visualize the emotional and psychological pressures resulting from high family expectations of the youngest child in the creation of a mixed-media painting. Expectations present since childhood create an emotional burden, a sense of responsibility, and a drive to fulfill the family's expectations as the last of nine siblings. The research method uses a qualitative approach and artistic research based on the artist's personal experience and is reflective. This mixed-media painting effectively conveys the pressures, hopes, and emotional struggles of the youngest child, often difficult to express in everyday life, based on the results of the research and visual exploration conducted. The visualization of family expectations is realized through a surrealist approach and semi-figurative forms, featuring symbols such as mushrooms, trees, and forests as representations of the extended family, pressure, and emotional relationships within the family environment. The artist uses acrylic paint as the primary medium, combined with various mixed-media materials such as clay, synthetic flowers, artificial leaves, natural textures, and other three-dimensional elements on canvas. Techniques used include layering, impasto, collage, and texture exploration to enhance the emotional atmosphere and visual depth of the work. In this work, the depiction of objects still maintains figurative elements, but undergoes deformation and stylization to emphasize the surreal nuances and strengthen the symbolization of the artist's inner experience as the youngest child.