Due to lockdown, a lot of work has gone off track. So have assessments. I do hope we'll be back soon, but I know that it's only a matter of time until the lockdown is extended.In the meantime, I've been attempting to complete my work to the best of my ability. This includes the art assessment that we've been working on for some time. Recently, I have been able to complete this, and while I cannot share the final product so I don't get copied, I can share some pieces that I am particularly proud of within the work.
Part of this assessment was describing the artworks of one of the artists we looked into. This is my description of Sofia Minson's 'The Other Sister,' this was the first of the four to be completed.
The painting is displayed as landscape, longer than the typical size, and without colour. The background is shades of gray, white and black, the white shines as if it is light in the upper right corner and it fades into gray and then into black as if it is shadows. A woman’s face is the focal point of the painting, showing from the very top of her eyebrows to the bottom of her chin, she is likely standing sideways and having to turn her head towards the focal point considering the angling of her face. The mentioned light before is shining onto her left cheek and creates shadows across her face, particularly on the opposite side of her face due to her nose and her eyelashes, despite this, light shines onto the left side of her nose, upper lip, bottom lip, her chin and most of the left cheek. She has short hair, that even with the gray scale would likely be graying or a light colour if she was to be shown in colour. The roots of her hair are dark as the light isn’t shining onto them. She has a set of defining wrinkles on her face, a pair that stretches from the bottom of the outside of her nose down towards her mouth, but not connecting, the lines are curved and display the right of her face more prominently as it makes the skin near her cheek where the wrinkle is shown puff out slightly. The woman has a traditional moko on her chin, two images reflecting over the centerline of her face to create a symmetrical image. The reflected image shows two swirls, one stretching from the bottom of her lip and the other stretching from the bottom of her chin, they connect at the center of her chin before splitting off and becoming smaller and smaller. The ink is dark, defining and makes an outstanding image.In the third Artists picture description, one of the questions we answered for each artwork was 'What particular information can you pick out and explain further to show you understand the meaning of this artwork.' This was my answer about Roy Lichtenstein's Crying Girl (1963 version).
The artwork was created to represent the female identification in the 1950s and 1960s where they were fighting for their rights and against the stereotypical confirmations they were forced into, including how they appeared and spoke and who they were in a relationship with. The crying girl is stressed as seen in her face, she appears to be running from something or someone. This shows us how she can be running from the entrapment of the female identity during those times. She has broken this perfect idealisation of a woman through the outward showing of her emotions, and now is running. 
Another question that we answered, for only two of the four artworks, was 'How does the context (time and place) the artwork was made affect your understanding of its meaning?' I answered this question in alignment with the artwork of Lisa Reihana's Mahuika.
The idea behind this artwork and the series it belongs to is to paint the Māori legends in an accurate way while the method creates a way of communicating this across the world. The time in which we do this will always affect the depictions of the people and the legends as time goes by. Years ago, Mori were painted as a dying race and their culture was used as a tourist attraction, but not something they could indulge in otherwise. Now, we see Māori legends and people depicted accurately and without bias, by people who respect the culture and it's ideas.
