Project Proposal

Section 1:

‘Darkness In Disguise’

In fairy tales there are often hidden meanings which aren’t usually picked up unless you read in between the lines. These hidden aspects are usually very dark, creating a contrast between the happiness which is on the surface. I want to see if I can relate this contrast of life and death into art work, to subtly show to the viewer that there is more than meets the eye.

Firstly I want to explore fairytales so I can get an understanding of the underlying symbolisms and meanings. Knowing what’s beneath the surface of the stories, will open up more imagery allowing me to juxtapose contrasting elements from the stories together, to start communicating the ‘Darkness in Disguise‘.

I will then try and link the theory of underlying darkness to a non art related aspect. I will look at the unconscious mind, as your conscious mind doesn’t automatically register subtle details, such as the hidden meanings of a fairy tale. By researching into the unconscious mind, I may learn of theories which will be helpful with backing up my project.

I will then research into interesting artists that will compliment my symbols and imagery and inspire some artwork. I feel that a good art movement for me to consider looking into is surrealism. This is because if I am juxtaposing imagery together that is contrasting, it is automatically going to create a surreal situation, or an idea of dream or fantasy.

My artwork will be a fusion of imagery and concepts which indirectly link to the underlying darkness of a fairy tale, whilst relating to other non art related factors. I shall portray my work in a number of different ways. These will include drawing, painting, sculpture and printing. My aim is to create some interesting, contemporary surreal pieces which show a flip side, meaning there is more than what just meets the eye.

Section 2:

Influence’s for me are not only artists, but also from other segments of the creative industries, such as fashion advertising (Mulberry, Valentino..) and fashion photo shoots in high budget magazines such as Vogue. The clothing is also getting much more outrageous; with lots of imaginative, very surreal designs (Haus of Gaga, Alexander McQueen…) another influence to me is within music.

I firstly read the following books of fairy tales to refresh my memory and to set the project up:

'A First Book of Fairy Tales' by Mary Hoffman. Dorling Kindersley
'The Faber Book of Favourite Fairy Tales' by Sara and Stephen Corrin. Faber and Faber
'Little Red Riding Hood' by Ian Beck. Oxford University Press
'A Magical World of Fairy Tales' by Desmond Marwood. Brown Watson

I have also watched a few film interpretations:

Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, Pocahontas and Alice In Wonderland.

To understand more of what lies beneath the surface of a selected fairytale, I will research into the meanings of the story. www.surlalunefairytales.com

I will visit a number of places to help me with my primary sources and inspiration:

The Bath Fashion Museum, Harrods, Pick Me Up: Contemporary Graphic Art Fair at Somerset House and my local woodland areas.

I will look into unconscious mind theories, from psychologists such as Freud and Lung.

Section 3:

I want my media, techniques and processes to be reflected from my artist research, however combined with my own twist. So my outcomes could be fashion based, a sculpture, photography, illustration or a print, depending on what inspires me. I’m open to many different mediums, but I would like to use a mixture of traditional with non traditional materials to hopefully add another contrast besides the actual imagery. For example dainty fragile materials for a dark, deathly illustration.

I would love to use ink and pencil to create some initial illustrations, and then develop them further with other materials or processes. I would love to experiment with screen printing, wire and photo shop manipulation.

I know that as part of my self promotion as well as my art work, I would like to make a series of limited edition zines, and I will also be documenting this whole project on my blog: www.katesmallshaw.blogspot.com. My blog will keep my ideas and artwork organised, so hopefully it can be more understood.

Section 4:

I will evaluate my project through annotations and feedback from the teachers and peers.