This week I started on a new piece in my series. The series will consist of 4-5 stippled images of a women's clothing paired with watercolor and a cut-out silhouette of the figure's body so that the only drawn object will be her clothes. This week I decided to go bigger (like I always do). Last week, the woman was wearing an over-sized, long-sleeved, button-up shirt that flowed over her body and was very suggestive. This week, I'm sticking to the same sexy and nearly-provocative type of garments by having my figure wear a long, satin dress in a seductive pose. The flowing of the dress paired with the woman's pose and high heels brings an all-over seductive atmosphere to the artwork. I plan on making the middle ground pattern in this one red, possibly with flowers and roses. The very background (the second layer that gives the piece depth) I plan on making an olive green color unless I change my mind and/or a different color works better. This series concept talks about the viewer's gaze. It takes away the privilege of knowing what the female figure looks like and leave it to their own imagination. The viewer can't sexualize the figure, even though they want to when provided with suggestive imagery. Because the figure is cut-out, the void creates a loss of identity and almost a sense of despair.
Progress and details
My inspiration this week was from Kara Walker's silhouettes that she does throughout her artwork. Her silhouettes underline and touch on subjects of slavery and the antebellum south. Her use of silhouettes masks the identity and works to strip them of their identity, as well. The idea of stripping the identity is what I aim for in my artwork as cutting-out the silhouette of the female body de-sexualizes the figure and defeats/mocks the male gaze.
Kara Walker
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In this weeks reading,
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