Playing with an Accident

While I was painting onto the fabric pinned against the wall, I noticed that the acrylic paint had sunk through the material and had made prints onto the white wall. The marks made were reflections of the marks on the fabric but in reverse, which produced incredibly abstract and distorted shapes. I took advantage of this 'accident', and it was suggested to me that I draw upon the associations people will make with the marks on the wall by asking a number of individuals to write what they see against the shape. Excitingly, this tied in perfectly with my idea of memories and somehow making the intangible appear tangible. It was most interesting to observe what others saw through their own eyes, and often two or three conflicting perceptions were written around the shapes. Upon reflection, I wish I had pinned the fabric I painted on, onto a canvas board so that I could have preserved the marks left on the wall. However, I am pleased that I produced a small photographic study of the 'accident'.

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.