Today we had an informal tutorial, so I made a quick powerpoint outlining some of my artistic interests as well as some of my best images so far.
German artist, the series which interests me is “Overpainted Photographs”. Oil painting on photographs. More on this series in another dedicated post.
One of my favourite artists at the moment – there is a post already dedicated to her work on my blog.
A sheet of acetate is hung from a stand, acting as a kind of filter. This sheet is painted on with orange paint. I love the way the paint is smeared and purposeful, similar to Richter’s smears of paint across the photographs, just used in a slightly different way.
I like the poses and the drama, the orange and blue being quite solemn whereas the black and white series seems much more punchy and confrontational. The one with the face also reminds me of the kind of bold faces that french artist Basquiat draws (pic below for reference).
I am also very inspired by traditional paintings. The elegance and posing of the models to be really captivating. I find the expression of the main model (usually only women in pre-raphaelite) to also be very intriguing and conveys a kind of emotion. I also feel as though there is something particularly poignant about the positioning or gesturing of hands in these paintings, they seem to play some kind of integral role in the overall success of the composition.
I mentioned during my presentation that I haven’t styled my hair to suit the immitation of pre-raphaelite paintings, where womens hair is usually long and curly. I really like the lighting in this painting, and the hand placements, as well as concealing the body with the beautiful long hair. Maybe I can try to do the same in my next shoot as well as curl my hair.
I really like the colours in this painting, the soft blue of the sky and city streets, as well as the red cloak on the horse. The women’s pose is really interesting to me, and I will definitely try to re-create it in my next shoot. The poses in most of these paintings make the women seem very soft or gentle, concerned or looking inwards.
Model again has beautiful long ginger hair, and this is a re-creation of the following painting…
Again I am reminded of the words: soft, gentle, flowing.
We have similar features, such as a long neck and ginger hair.
Maybe it would be intersting to use some props in my next shoot. Branches, books, ivy or fruit? Maybe these things can be shot separately and used as part of the final image when manipulated into a photomontage/collage.
I spent this shoot just experimenting with different materials (plastics, acetate, and acrylic). Playing into this kind of shower curtain vibe I was getting from the poly-pocket and posing like I was in a bathroom. Trying to emulate Flora Borsi and just see what intrigues me at first.
I ended up really liking the look of a ‘golden’ body and a eggshell blue shade when I edited the photos and colour balance. These images in particular with the cloudy plastic sheet reminded me of a steamy shower, and I treid to play into this aestetic by posing as if getting ready for a shower. 
Here I tried to relax my back, by slouching, and not thinking too much about the camera, and how people are viewing the photo and me. I was interested to see the difference between actively posing ‘nicely’ and relaxing into a unhealthy posture, as you would after a long day. On the right is an act of taking off my shirt – again playing around with the whole shower aesthetic, getting ready to go in.
Some feedback was that I am relying too much on the ideas of other artists and need to decide on a direction of my own, but my experimentation is valuable and provides a starting point to work from.
During this shoot I was more focused on nailing this soft lighting, which Andre pointed out I should reflect on the lighting seen in traditional paintings, and try to emulate that in my next shoot. Still experimenting with a range of poses, just doing what feels right, and trying out both looking towards the camera as well as away from the camera. I also experimented with a few ‘contemporary’ poses (triptych at the end)
Some feedback was that the colourama is a bit sharp, which I saw during editing, though this is easily tidied up in a bit of editing. Next time I’ll make sure to place everything even further from the backdrop.
Here I tried to go a little against the ‘gentle’ or concerned poses I’ve seen in some of the paintings, trying to instead be more confrontational (by looking back at the viewer) and be more bold by using my hands and breaking/creating some kind of barrier between my nude body and the viewer’s gaze.
Returning back to the acetate and acrylic paints I continue to experiment with this ‘filter’. Trying to recreate some of the poses I liked from my 1st shoot. Also taking this accidental idea of a shower curtain a bit further by spraying water onto the plastic sheet, focusing on it as well as through it.
What was the feedback?
Think about what it means to be representing myself, as a woman, whereas the pre-raphaelite paintings are painted by men, representing women.
Research the representation of the female body in self-portraiture. Understand some of what has been said on the depiction of the female body.
Potentially play around in photoshop more, as my tests did work out well and seem to go in a different direction – more separated from Flora Borsi’s work (which is good as it stands alone and will not always reference someone else). Pics below of my more punchy edits which could potentially be political and speak of the male gaze and identity of the woman.
To think about not just about creating and exploring freely what is interesting to me – to also consider what is my intention for this work – what do I want to say? This can protect me in a way seeing as these are nude photographs and my intended meaning can act as a kind of protection, especially if anyone is to write about my work, they cannot skew the meaning or make up their own so easily. Contextualise the work. Some other feedback was that I might engage in more written works discussing the male gaze, as I have seemed to touch upon that quite naturally in my last photos where I’ve edited the photo so part of my identity is concealed – which I was hoping would imply the question of what is more important, the identity or the body? Read more about the representation of women in portraiture – as most of these paintings in the pre-raphaelite era are painted by men, whereas I am representing myself.
Artists / Writers to go look at:
- Holly Bertels – manipulates her prints
- Fiberglass based materials German Etching Paper (as I mentioned that I was interested in printing onto canvas, again a reference to painting, someone mentioned a type of textured paper which I might like to try print on)
- Barbra Crouger
- John Bergers – Ways of Seeing (chapter on the male gaze)
- Launa Simpson’s collages – painting and multimedia
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