Lavve_Up’s work in the 2024 Show explores the lives of orphaned children and the absence and trauma that they feel while being orphaned. Lavve_Up’s work highlights how there is a need to feel as though one belongs and the process of getting better through grief.
In Meet (2024), two figures enter the room; their relationship with the viewer is unknown. The absence of the new child’s face invites the viewer to imagine the emotional weight of the child’s arrival and the adjustment to this new environment.
This exclusion is subtle, shifting the focus from the child to the room and the child’s new living space, highlighting its significance. Thus, the piece explores the universality of the childrens experiences navigating displacement and belonging.
Evening (2024) happens just after Meet (2024); the new boy gazing towards the cityscape suggests that there is a yearning for what has been lost which in context of the artwork being an orphanage: a lost home or family. The guitar is an instrument that allows the child to distract himself or can be considered a vessel for his emotions. With the presence of the other child, it creates an understanding between the two as they have a shared experience being orphans.
Night (2024) is dark and menacing compared to the previous two works, Meet (2024) and Evening (2024). From the artist’s description of the work, “a tragic event unfolds… the children lie sleeping, unaware of the crime that is quietly taking place around them”, we can discern that this foreshadows a terrible event. This is reinforced by the child to the right possibly being taken away by an unknown person while the other two children are oblivious to what is happening next to them. This work could potentially be the predecessor to Protector (2024) which references one of the brothers passing away.
Protector (2024) is potentially the successor work of Night (2024); the work has a muted palette which increases the heaviness of the moment while the two brothers are surrounded by what seems to be shadows of monsters. These elements give the work a desolate atmosphere, however the elder sibling is protective due to the loss and attempts to comfort the younger sibling. Therefore, the artwork explores grief and survival- with the role of protector showcasing strength borne from necessity instead of choice and thus surviving.