Backdrop

In 2018, I participated again in the annual Concurso Sardinhas organised by Empresa de Gestão de Equipamentos e Animação Cultural in celebration of Festa de Lisboa. This yearly contest consists of making art in the form of sardine.

Concept

This year, I had the idea from the aminal nature of sardine—forage fish. In the ocean, sardines swim together in schools. They usuallly form a big group of fish to move around. 🐟🐠 Of course deep down they are all different individuals. But together they are stronger.

I started with the idea of imitating a child’s drawing fish in different colours. I then continued by exploring the combination of colours and the forms of representing sardines. I further tried bringing different sizes, thicknesses, positions, and postures of each together. I concluded on to the style of 🖌 Asian paintbrush to represent their form.

Eventually, all the individually unique sardines formed a beautiful, lively mosaic of themselves. Together they are one!