Stage 2 Project 1:
Body as Identities

"Behind your thought and feelings, my brother, stands a mighty commander, an unknown sage - he is called Self. He lives in your body, he is your body." by Nietzsche, 1883

Week One (04/11/2024) - Body & identity in animation

"Most average guys are about 6-7 heads tall but... if we draw a hero he's got to look like a hero - he should be of heroic proportions. Unfortunately, the normal 6.5 head high proportions would make him seem somewhat dumpy when drawn in a Marvel mag." Stan Lee. This quote sends out a message about the inadequacies of being 'normal', which might not appear an issue for cartoon drawing but I was influenced by this as child. I entered life drawing classes on the FAD course as an adult 50 years later believing that the proportions for drawing the male model were 8 heads and it was a surprise when I found out this was wrong. I therefore wanted to explore this issue further and take a closer look at body shape and how it is depicted in the animation and fashion industries.

Gorillaz Art - The Band

I started Body & Identity project investigating shape & diversity in animation art. I am really motivated by the art of Damon Albarn & James Hewlett including this piece from cover of a favourite LP - Demon Days

Week Two (11/11/2024) - Mood, identity & masks

Whilst researching this project in first week I touched on the role of colour in reflecting or influencing mood of a person, which can have a significant impact on self and identity. I also started to explore the role of masks in body and identity, which I initially looked at in my Stage 1 Facade project and autistic masking, but now I want to widen my perspective to investigate the use of masks to portray mood, status, gender and roles in society, the arts and entertainment. I did some research of scientific reports about the use of colour moods for interior design and the role of colours denoting mood in psychology and therapy.

Kabuki Mask 1

Firstly I have drawn a design as a template using black ink drawing pen that outlines the main patterns

Week Three (18/11/2024) - Identity, body & society

Last weeks artwork and research resulted in me focusing on masks, which are a passion of mine that I fostered during the Summer Sketchbook project for Stage 1. I moved on from studying the ancient Japanese culture and masks associated with the Kabuki Theatre and explored other cultures, including Mexican Death masks (LHS) and the relationship between body, identity and death. I've been reading an OU free short course about the psychological aspects of body and identity, the concept of self and embodiment. This led to above image of skull collage interpreting a spidergram about these concepts and it formed the background for creating my Human Trinity sculpture using key words of report for decoupage effect.

Body Shape Collage 1

This is a simple collage using cut-outs of colour card in similar style to Matisse using the 8 geometric shapes used by animators & fashion industry to categorise our body types

Week Four (25/11/2024) - Linocut monoprints of identity

After focusing on 3D practice with masks and sculpture for a while I moved my ideas to a 2D graphic format and created ideas using linocut and typograph printing methods. I've had a really productive two days this week in the print studio applying recent learning and past experience to create a body of printed artwork based on the theme of Body & Identity. On LHS is a series of lino-cut monoprints and first colour reduction prints designed around the 8 geometric shapes used by the fashion industry to categorise our body shapes. On the RHS is the outcome of experimenting with key words from my Human Trinity sculpture in the typography room to create a series of prints. Below is a homage to my grandfather who left part of his body (2 legs & 1 eye) on WW1 battlefield in France but didn't let it harm his true identity. I created a series of linocut monoprints (some with chine colle) of Green Man faces using self-mixed colours.

Orange Man

An orange monoprint of my Green Man linocut

Week Five (02/12/2024) - Linocut monoprints of body shape

I've had another really productive two days this week in the print studio creating a body of printed artwork based on the theme of body, identity & self. On LHS is a series of lino-cut monoprints and second colour reduction prints using variety of my designs using a self-mixed purple ink. On the RHS is the outcome of using a self-mix maroon ink to create a series of similar prints. NB: notice the sheets of excess maroon ink rolled onto newsprint to create collage paper. I have shared some of those images below with a selection of monoprint body shape linocuts, others with two ink colours printed in a similar style to reduction printing method and a set of monoprints in a Haida-style orca design reflected First Nations use of highly stylised and graphic design of body shapes of wildlife and people.

Body Shapes 1

This monoprint was created with second linocut block using self-mix purple ink

Week Six (09/12/2024) - Prints & collage of identity & self

I've continued the productivity of two sessions in the print studio by creating a body of printed artwork based on the theme of body, identity & self. Above you can see a series of linocut monoprints in a self-mix dark green and a small series of monoprints using left over excess of dark green ink rolled onto cartridge paper to create a background. I then used either dark green ink or white ink to print my mask design onto these sheets. NB: excess maroon ink rolled onto newsprint to create collage paper. There are two key approaches shown here, firstly monoprints of a tribal mask design that harks back to my earlier work on this course with masks; and secondly the typographic prints of key words from my Human Trinity sculpture and associated collages created to replicate skin effect.