Body Painting onto Fabric

One of my central influences for the piece was the work of Yves Klein. However, I took a slightly different approach with the mark making and chose to capture the movement of the body, creating rather abstract shapes. I would like to produce a similar piece in the style of Yves Klein's work in the near future, as well as to produce another large scale piece whereby I lie on the fabric and move. This would vary the mark making and the shapes produced.

Body Painting Large Scale on Fabric

Following on from the idea of making the intangible tangible, and communication emotion through mark making using the body, I used a large piece of fabric upon which to dance onto. This action additionally encapsulates my exploration of the reversion back to the natural state, whereby the artist uses their body as opposed to materials. The piece, in the preliminary state shown, is loud on its own, however I am thinking of projecting a short film I made onto the fabric. The film shows myself moving in a space with distorting strobe lights. The combination of the marks on the fabric and the movement of the body in the film together would communicate the intangible; predominantly time as the 4th dimension and emotion,

Body Paint Collection

Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome of my body painting. I was able to explore an angle of the abstract which I had never had the confidence to do so before, as well as experiment with a range of new materials and combinations, such as paint and glue. Upon photographing the collection as a body, I quite liked the juxtaposition of certain colours and textures, and thus I may consider presenting the pieces as one. However, I do feel that some of the paintings speak for themselves, and need no contrast.
A comment on the collection which has provoked much thought, is my decision to leave the background of the canvases raw and unpainted. Upon reflection, I feel that I would like to produce a further few pieces where I use identically sized canvases, and have painted the background a plain colour. My thought behind this is that the wild and chaotic mark making would contrast against the order of the canvases.

Untitled

Release

This painting is the only one of its kind in the series. I filled my hands with paint and flicked it straight onto a primed and painted wooden canvas. I feel that this painting is charged with emotion, perhaps more so than some of the others.

All of Me

To produce this painting, I experimented with the marks I could make using all my fingers, fingertips and hands.

All of Me 2

My Mind

Secret

Out of the series, this particular painting is my favourite and I feel, one of my most successful. Using Acrylic and glue, I wanted to communicate my emotions through the marks and strokes of my hands across the layers paint. Again, for each who observes the painting, a different association is made. For example, one individual described how the paint and palette reminded them of a waterfall. This painting also has a lot of texture to it, for I used the thick layers of paint to imprint the lines of my palm onto the piece.

Raw 2

This is one of the outcomes of my body painting. I used thick layers of acrylic paint to produce this painting, using no other tools aside from my hands and elbows. This painting has sparked much interest, due to the fact that its content seems to resonate differently with each who observes it. For some, it provokes a reaction of grotesque, as a result of the colours resembling meat. For others, the vibrant reds and yellows resemble volcanic matter. It is most fascinating to record the differing reactions towards this painting, and what memories are associated with its content. This in turn encapsulates my exploration of making the intangible tangible; not only emotion but also memories.

Body Painting in Motion #2

More Shots from Body Painting

Initial Body Painting Session. Acrylic

This is a piece I produced from my initial body painting session. Although I want this painting to remain fairly ambiguous, attached to this painting is the emotion of anger. I chose to use a monochromatic palette for this piece, for I felt that I wanted to pay the most attention to the methods of mark making and the textures of the paint as opposed to the colour. However upon saying this, I find that the colours compliment the mark making by amplifying the strokes and thus giving the painting a harsher feel. It felt so freeing to produce such a piece. I think that I would like to present this piece alongside the video of it in the making. I have used the editing software of 'Imovie' to speed up the pace of the video to make it more emphatic.

Body Painting in Motion

This is the raw footage documenting the body painting I did onto a wooden canvas using acrylic paint. I thoroughly enjoyed this process, as I feel as though I have given myself the opportunity to explore abstract art; an area for which I am unfamiliar. I am not sure how I feel about the final outcome of the painting, for it is difficult to pick out parts of my body made which marks. However, I feel the video is more effective in expressing the idea of making the intangible (emotion) tangible, and reverting back to the body and a material.

Body Painting and Expressionism

As part of my exploration of Object and Antimatter, I decided to play with the idea of the body as an artistic material in a world full of materialism, almost like a restoration back to the natural state of expression. In addition, I wanted to explore making the intangible, such as emotion, tangible, thus each piece I produced was emotionally charged; emotions dictated the mark making. Above are a few shots of the results, I have yet to add the outcome of the painting. As I was painting, I found the marks and colours of the paint on my body to be most fascinating, and thus I went forth to take a series of photographs. Although the paint is not on a conventional canvas, it is on my body, which ties well with my exploration of the body as a material. Moreover, this particular experiment was an exercise for me to loosen my mark making and let myself be free from a conscious state of mind. These particular photographs feature black and white acrylic paint.

Merging states

'The body as the unconscious.
The body as mind.
Landscape as the body.
The dissolution of the self in the breakdown
of inside/outside.
The skin as conceptual membrane.'

Bill Viola, note, 1 January 1987

Object and Antimatter

'If its not real
You can't hold it in your hand
You can't feel it with your heart
And I won't believe it
But if it's true
You can see it with your eyes
Oh, even in the dark
And that's where I want to be, Yeah.'

-Brick by brick, Paramore

This song inspired me to think about the nature of Antimatter, and what it means to each individual. The accepted definition of Antimatter is a particle matter that has the same mass as particles of ordinary matter but has an opposite charge. For me, Antimatter is an unstable entity; it could take the form of a memory, an emotion or a idea. An object, traditionally, is anything that is visible or tangible and is in a relatively stable form. In turn, this meaning could be subverted. What qualifies an object?