Petrina Hicks NGV Poster Design

These poster designs are inspired by the photographer, Petrina Hicks and her Bleached Gothic exhibition at the NGV. The overall aesthetic of her photographs very much include soft hues and a neutral colour palette. A recurring subject in this series by Hicks is the same female, often pictured covering her eyes. Along with the colour palette and subject matter, I have also considered Hicks’ own inspiration when it comes to taking her photographs. She is inspired by Greek mythology, where she often compares the physical flesh of a human against stone or marble. In doing this, she successfully attempts at capturing sculptural photographs of her subjects against extremely sharp, plain backgrounds, where the subject matter, who is often holding an item is the focal point.

By considering all of this research and viewing Hicks’ photographs, I then employed these elements into my own interpretation of what would make an effective poster design for the Bleached Gothic exhibition. For example, I have digitally illustrated Greek goddess sculptures, along with covering their eyes, as does Hicks with her subjects. Along with this are posters consisting of hand-written type, comprising of shapes and intending to look like marble tiles. In these illustrations, I tried to imitate the texture of marble/stone that you often see in ancient sculptures, whilst also trying to hint at how Hicks implements a sculptural element to her photographs. I have also employed the same colour palette as Hicks throughout the posters, although especially evident in the ripped collages of different pink/neutral hues, whilst these ripped materials can also represent physical flesh. At times, I have also placed the ripped collages and illustrations of the sightless Greek goddess sculptures together, hinting towards Hicks’ juxtaposition between physical flesh, and stone and marble. Additionally, I have referenced the gallery space through the posters consisting of diagonal lines, representing the floor of the gallery space. They also represent the sharpness of Hick’s images.