Myself and a couple classmates had a mid module 'assessment' where we basically discussed our work with each other and bounced around some ideas and feedback. I felt this was really helpful as I was struggling with finalising my idea a little bit and was still toying around with the uncomfortable foot issue I mentioned in the previous blog post. This was helpful in that it helped me realise I didn't necessary need to focus on one area on the body. I was worried that creating a whole body price would draw focus to the body as a whole and unintentionally become the focus rather than identity. However using the interior of the muscles could prevent that from happening as it becomes more structural and pattern based than a 'life drawing.' I need to make the flowers the centre of attention as they reflect our inner identity and the importance of that. I could have probably come to this conclusion a little sooner but the offering of alternative perspectives really pushed the idea into motion. The next stage will be to break the body into sections and begin designing the flowered patterns and also decide the scale of the peice I intend to create. 

As I had previously experimented with anatomical drawings of the foot I thought it would be a nice change to consider using a photograph of the body part instead and layering my print on top. I felt this could be a nice alternative to the detailed drawings previously. I felt their would be a more personal touch if there was a connection between someone's foot and their identity. Each person could place their feet in a pose that they feel reflects their personality with a flower symbolising the identity.
However someone in class mentioned to me that some people feel uncomfortable!e around feet. Though this shouldn't matter, I want my final piece to make people feel comfortable and embracing of their own bodies, if someone feels uncomfortable around feet I won't get the desired effect. Perhaps I could consider doing some exterior drawings of the feet or move back to the possibility of using the hand.
Next class will be a group mid module meeting so perhaps it would be visable to bring up the potential dilemma and see what thoughts are. I'm looking forward to getting some opinions from fresh eyes.

I was really happy with the initial drawing I had done with the flower so decided to take this further and create some really interesting prints. The screen picked up the detail in my mark making really quite well whilst allowing me to experiment with different colour combinations in a more efficient and timely manner. By printing on tissue paper it means I could create layers on to other images whilst retaining the detail from both. 

I feel the silkscreen process could work really well in capturing the detail within the images of the flowers, however as seen in the second image I need to be careful that my layers don't become to busy and that the composition sits in a more balanced way. 

I have thought about integrating actual photographs of feet and the images I am producing of natural organisms. The photo being a demonstration of our physical bodies and the flower symbolising the identity within our bodies. 

I may consider printing the flowers on to a more sturdy paper then perhaps just drawing on top as the tissue paper can create a crinkled effect. 

I'm really pleased with the way the colours have blended within the prints and really emphasised the depth of the flowers in coordination with the mark making.

I wanted to take my flower drawing forward with some more subtle experiments with colour. I also carried on the pattern I used for some sections of flower petals through the rest of the drawing. I really like the idea of keeping the muscle sections blank and allowing the flower to really take centre stage. The pencil allowed me to get some really nice depth to the flowers and layering a tracing drawing on top of another also gave it a very 3d aspect. I feel very positive about this composition and just need to consider if I would incorporate colours and which ones.

The only thing to consider about this sample is how it contradicts my earlier aim to create something vivid and vibrant in order to invite the viewer in. That being said there's something quite beautiful about the subtlty and perhaps vibrancy would give it too much of an abstract effect.

The next stage is to look into getting my drawing on to a screen and do some silkscreen printing as this could be a good way to experiment with colour but also create numerous replicas in a shorter space of time. Thd sooner i decide on the technical process I will use, the sooner I can work towards creating my finals peices of artwork.

Continuing with my experimentation with identities reflected in the body. This time I wanted to play with different mediums and see how skin like tones would work against a contrasting flower. I found this quite interesting to play with using a flowery wallpaper, however the contrasting designs seem to make the image quite flat and loses its depth slightly. It was suggested I could continue the design on the wallpaper into the muscles and create something quite abstract. This could be interesting however I'm unsure this would take away the message within my design. The flower is a symbol of hidden identity within people and I want to portray that people should find that within one another.

I want to next experiment with more aesthetically pleasing colours to suggest it is our individuality and who we are not what we look like is where the real beauty lies. I like the idea of perhaps leaving the detail of the muscles simply as an unfilled line and let the colour blossom within the entwined flowers. Although our bodies are beautiful I want to reflect that beauty should be defined by what comes from within. I've thought about just using the feet as studies as it symbolises the concept of walking in someone else's shoes.

I wanted to this time experiment with a composition with the muscles of the foot, incorporating the flowers. I hope to by the end have a series of compositions but in order to demonstrate that we all have different identity's each must have a different combination of flowers which have of course their own hidden meanings. I've started to consider colour combinations, this is the beginning of an idea to have the muscles in monochrome but perhaps the flowers could be in vibrant colours. This wil highlight our identity (the flowers) is what is important and what we should be judged by. Therefore I am making a link with the body (as promoting positive body image is a body issue after all) but without making it the sole focus. I feel really positive about the composition but I'm unsure yet of my chosen medium therefore I will experiment with that next. 

My concern is about overcomplicating my design, although the point is to strategically place the flowers in a way that's subtle, I still want their presence to be apparent. Our identity lies within and we should take the time to get to know someone and judge them by that instead of making remarks on someone we don't know purely by their outside looks. I could therefore consider leaving the muscle structure as a simple line drawing and shadow the flowers, which could perhaps be nice in the screen print process. This is something I could consider next. I've also collected wallpaper samples with different flower designs that I could print and draw into, which I'm quite excited about! 

I've been doing a bit of research into aboriginal body painting as another form of investigating into identity, the paint acts as a representation into who they are. Whilst our society seems to judge one another's identity on our physical appearance, the aboriginals body painting is a representation of so much more. The decoration is a definition of their family role and place within the tribe, as I've found. The body is a temple to the culture, traditions and responsibilities held upon them, a complete contrast to how we consider our own bodies. I found this really interesting, as they are almost treating the body as a work of art. It saddens me that our society spends so much of its time criticising and judging peoples bodies in such a negative manner whilst cultures like these are proud of who they are regardless of what others may think.

I intend to some more research into this as perhaps including cultural differences in my artwork could be interesting. In order to do this I will need to look at the meaning of the different symbols adorned on the body and also the colour symbolism. It could be nice to incorporate flowers that are perhaps associated with the aboriginal tribes (if any.) The aboriginals are so much more appreciative of nature as they don't have the technologies that we have. This would explain however why we feel so differently about our bodies, as we are subjected to the social and public media that has influenced our self judgement whilst they are not.

The next step is perhaps to look more into the aboriginal culture but perhaps look into others such as American Indians or other African tribes and even consider looking more into our own.

So in researching into identity I've had a thought about relating the body to natural organisms such as plants and flowers. Our bodies inside and out are just like flowers in that we all grow and form differently and individually. But also in order to flourish we need to nurture and love and appreciate our bodies in the way we would look after a flower.

Also, in researching more into flowers I've discovered that each plant life has its own definition and meaning, mostly which are also considered characteristic qualities. So for example, a yellow rose represents jealousy or infedelity. The flowers could work well as a way to interject my concept of identity into each individual work. I want to use studies of the body, however by using the exterior it could encourage people to judge my artwork by the appearance of the body and I want to prevent that. I want to promote individuality to portray our identity as the beautiful aspect of our being and not our shape looks or weight. Therefore I've considered drawings of the inside of the body such as the muscles and skeletal structure. This would again symbolise that beauty lies much deeper than our looks. Therefore I've began experimenting with joining my concept of flowers and muscle work into one. Shown in the example image. By doing different studies with different combinations of flowers I am reflecting different traits in different people that make up the identity of who they are. Making them all different combinations will support that we are all individual and different, and this applies to both our personality and identity but to our bodies aswel. Our bodies are also unique and we should embrace them.

At the moment I feel very positive about this idea, it would help me to conceptually represent different identities in a way that might please people aesthetically. Flowers are considered or usually associated with beauty and I want to promote that we are all beautiful from within. I want to promote positive body image that may help people take even a small step in the right direction away from self loathe.

In experimenting with some drawings, such as the one above, it has helped me put my thoughts down on paper and allowed me to come to the conclusion that using body parts such as the hands and feet ( where the muscles are more intricate) are much more interesting to play with as I can wind and intertwine the flowers much more interestingly. The flowers aren't hidden in a subtle, exciting way when using parts of the body with larger more block-like muscles.

Aternativelly, instead of just placing flowers discreetly between muscles I could create patterns with the flowers themselves And then apply the pattern to cover different muscles. This is something I could address next in my experimentation and may actually work effectively for the more larger muscle groups.

new brief, new start...

So this is the moment we all wait for in degree art & design...the opportunity to do what we want to do! I've always been interested in the body obsession issue that plagues society and how it has resulted in a rise in eating disorders. Having partaken in projects in this theme before I've always approached it from the angle of someone experiencing an eating disorder. Therefore this time I want to promote the idea of inner beauty and how we should be defined by our personality rather than our shape or size. 

I feel this could be a much more interesting angle and help me to create artwork that isn't going to make people uncomfortable like previously but help address a matter that should be taken more seriously. We are human and it's natural to have flaws, we aren't designed to be perfect and trying to be that is causing people to be seriously I'll and unhappy. 

Having a chat with my mentor was really helpful, focusing on the key words of identity and individuality will help me demonstrate that we are all different and that should be embraced not resented. On the down side I'm now hit with the difficulty of addressing identity without causing any focus on looks or body image, a tough one but could also be interesting during the research process. 

The next step is to come to a conclusion about how to represent different identities with people....research time!