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I have been looking at pictures from Hiroshima and Nagasaki all day and reading stories, it may have influenced this drawing. A very sad day. A very sad past.
The Artful Readers Club for January
Artist's Journal Workshop: Creating Your Life in Words and Pictures by Cathy Johnson Sat in front of a local church on a sunny Saturday, then picked some flowers to examine. I only had a pencil so I added the watercolor later. Armed with few supplies, I went to one of my favorite spots and doodled. Lines added in Photoshop before posting...timid me. Please note: I recommend this book for any artist at any stage...my reference to 12-13 year olds in this review, is remarked due to the value of journaling. It's actually a very sophisticated book on many levels. In a brief shuffle through the pages of Artist's Journal Workshop , I found myself conflicted. The book contains numerous examples of a style of art making that toggles between the hugely personal and a publishable 'look'. So, with that...the book set up on my shelf for nearly a year. Now, after an honest read, I still feel a bit conflicted...but in a way that offers some inspir...
Kelly, really sorry to hear about your sad day. Hope you're feeling happier. The past is not our fault - or even the present - although it seems like it sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThis picture really speaks to me of hari-kari (the heart I carry?) - I don't know if this is because of the mention of Japan and the style (which also reminds me personally of Lichtenstein's pop art). It seems ritualistic, like acting. It's like the figure is wearing a mask - the white make up and red beneath reminds me (again because of the description and statement of influence) of the geisha?
The figure (ambiguously gendered) is stabbing itself or pulling out a blade in the lips? Or the heart it carries? Or is it simply someone eating? The face is blood streaked, it appears. Is the figure manacled or wearing a bracelet? I do think that either way, there is a theme of struggle and capture going on.
The floating ear reminds me personally of Van Gogh.
The accentuation of the line underneath the nose cuts out or is mirrored by the top of the heart/lips - the curve of this on the right is also replicated in the movement of the hair and the bracelet. This gives the photograph all of its decentring or motion as - a sickening slide downwards (the geometric precision of the knife is being contested by a spiral - the meeting point of which we never see (i.e. the curve never meets or is an asymptote))?
The face of the figure is marred with scars or wrinkles, possibly. Blonde loses colour and becomes black. Perhaps we are seeing a memento mori?
The eyes are really quite astonishing though. They're the first thing one sees and the colour makes them prominent. They're ever-green and glow with intensity. They look upwards, away from us, at something we will never see. It seems that we're seeing retaliation? survival? exclusion? There is something transitional in the look - the pupils are not dilated or contracting, but in the middle - it gives to me an air of suspense.
Geisha, survival, heart in the mouth. My first vision was to have a woman licking the knife after she had stabbed her heart. Unable to figure out how to convey this in one panel, I drew her heart in front of her mouth. Yes, exclusion first and retaliation on the self as in "I do this to myself".
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