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.