METAMORPHOSIS

19th October 2015

"The naked body is frequently the physical terrain artists traverse in the face of inner turmoil, guilt or anger. How can an artist represent loneliness, love, sexual yearning, wrath and shame? Drawing from the self or life model, from reproduction or the imagination, has provided artists with the freedom to explore such emotions and anxieties". 
Quote by Kate Macfarlane 'A wild presence' from 'The Nakeds'.

I read the quote and held those words in my head. We all have skin which we inhabit; flawed, smooth, textured, mapping our emotions, like words on paper. Interpreting the idea of self or the individual using the drawn line, with my life drawing as the starting point, for a personal journey 'under the skin' would be the initial realisation of this concept. 

My sketchbooks and life drawings are haphazard in their compilation, with each study ranging from the massive to the miniature using a variety of media. Spontaneity and fluidity seems to be the thread permeating most of my work.

I have looked at a range of styles which mirror my own and am starting with a range of contemporary and traditional figurative studies which have inspired me. German Expressionism,  Schiele, Heckel, Kokoschka, and latterly artwork involving projections and simplistic video art - Maurice Binder and Robert Brownjohn. It is the combination of light and line and the transparent layering of different media that I am intrigued by. 

Experimenting with the theme of human distortion using my linear approach. I am finding the malleability of the drawn line can be translated not only onto the surface of lino to recreate the chunky, dark Expressionistic style, but also onto fabric and smooth paper using silkscreen and digital textile print.

I have begun with my simple lino cut figures, twisting and mutating. I am hoping that these simple Organic forms will evolve into work more complex, more 'Kafkaesque' once printed on a variety of surfaces and melded together. 

“I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.” 

Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis