Inside her purse

Developing two-dimensional series as part of the Lost Girls, Strong Girls and the Assembled Image RADF Project

Top:

Cut Off Plaits

2012

Gouache, ink and watercolour pencil on paper

Centre:

Essence of Innocence

2012

Gouache, ink and watercolour pencil on paper

Bottom:

Love Potion

2012

Gouache, ink and watercolour pencil on paper

The Flying Girl - in focus

The Flying Girl sequences are focussed on the movement of a nameless storybook character that zooms through contrasting scenes, settings and worlds. The motif is an illustration cut-out of a 1930s children’s book (adventure genre for young teen audience) and is the key figure in the series of videos/stop-motions I am working on. These sequences will present differing visual notions of fictional and non-fictional texts whilst also touching on the feminine/feminist identity of a common archetype – the lone, young woman. The pose of the Flying Girl character is particularly important, as her dive position also emulates that of a superhero. Elements of the project as a whole relate to stories and fictional representations, so there is sharp irony in the image of a ditzy schoolgirl flying like Superman. Or to be more specific, as her power and intelligence as a female protagonist was hollow in the context of the story she was extracted from – the superhero type pose then transforms her into a kind of heroine. This flying ability then allows the girl to move through other worlds and places. So in the sequences she may not be a literary heroine but her ‘escape’ and surreal adventures flying through other worlds connects her image to another kind the heroine identity. This is supported by the habitual way we read fiction – imagining alternative versions of events in the story, considering the roles/motivations of silent characters and filling the gaps constructed by the author. Therefore, the Flying Girl is a version of another character and her movements in the sequences/videos make reference to a myriad of possible forms and re-imagined visual/conceptual translations.

The scenes of books/films are typically indicative of place, mood, storyline direction/genre and time. A setting featuring a prehistoric landscape and Dinosaurs would therefore be relevant to non-fictional texts and science but time given the existence of this world occurring millions of years ago. In making the Flying Girl sequences I am underlining the autonomy and evolving feminine identity after having been extracted from it’s original context. She zooms through strange landscapes and passes over impossible situations (I am also using existing two-dimensional collage pieces as backgrounds/settings). This in turn also introduces an allusion to self-reflection and possibly self-reflexive perception – as a female artist I interpose segments of personal narratives (e.g. dream experiences) and visual symbols/motifs that represent a self-characterisation. 

The Crustacean Woman

The Crustacean Woman is a collage that I recently transferred to transparent acetate for use on the ol' O.H.P. I still make the most of low-tech equipment and who can resist the charms of a classroom grade projector? This is a still shot taken from the studio at home and was captured as part of another short stop-motion. It will be an addition the growing collection of stills and AVIs I have produced for the 'Lost Girls Strong Girls and the Assembled Image'  video montage work/s. In the coming months, I will be re-shooting/making some short sequences and revising existing shots to then begin the editing and rendering process. Eventually, I will post sample videos here or set up a Vimeo account as a viewing platform - but for the mean time, sit tight.

Don't say the 'C' word

Deck the Walls 

Deck the Walls is a fab little group show opening quite soon and by 'C' word I mean Xmas (theme is in the title)

November 9-22, Bleeding Heart Gallery

Click here for more details

Norman Park studio days

Shadow casting with illuminated imagery

After I reviewed the captured photos from this lounge room experiment, I started to think more about different ways I could use the screen and the alternative light/projection sources that could be implemented in this exercise. I recently researched the work of Fleur Elise Noble and Miwa Matreyek and since then the combination of light, colour and motion have become more relevant. Ever since I started using silhouette motifs and shadows in my art work, colour had played a lesser part in this form of visual representation. I could talk about silhouettes and the significance of the ‘shadow’s double’ until the cows come home. But the relationship between positive and negative space cannot solely be read or seen in black and white - pardon the pun. Colour opens up another avenue of symbolic allusion and I think in reference to emotional flux and personal reflection/reflexivity, it is may also form a distinct part of my project. Hence the second round of lounge room screen test shots. When I wrote my proposal, I factored in the need access a data projector if I was to be using moving image processes, stop-motion, shadow puppets etc. Having this piece of easy-to-use but also versatile AV equipment at my disposal has aided the development of my ideas in a big way. As a follow up to the first round of lounge room tests, I used the hired projector as my light source and repeated the process. I connected my laptop to the projector and opened existing photos of sunsets, landscapes etc. In the images I have posted here, the photo of clouds illuminates pinks and blues around the stark shadows. With the help of my assistant Waz, we tested a few varying background images and textures which had interesting visual outcomes. It is my focus now to develop the these experiments further to the stage of incorporating live capture video and/or rear projected moving images for a performed sequence (performed using the silhouette of my body as seen here). 

Thanks for reading, I will keep you posted on the developing two-dimensional pieces and collage as well. 

Over and out.