My Self Promotional Area
In the end I didn't hang up my promotional pieces as there wasn't a wall or anything for me to hook the wire onto. So in the end I just arranged them in front of the computer. I think this way is less intimidating for people to pick them up though, so I feel its a good thing. Having the computer on has worked so well though, I love having the blog accessible. The desk is right opposite my final piece too, so it's not too far away.
Artist Statement
'Darkness in Disguise’
My project is inspired from my early analysis into fairy tales, and how on the surface everything is seemly easy to understand, with happiness, innocence, a problem, and finally, always a happy ending. However, under the surface, unbeknown to the reader, all is not what it seems. Fairy tales are in fact complex, dark and disturbing with sophisticated adult meanings and symbolisms-not what you would expect to find in a child’s story. In Snow White, there are a lot of symbols to do with vanity, the body, growing into a woman and desire. There is an obsession with beauty, which is what ultimately gets Snow White into the deathly situations.
As these hidden meanings are not in your consciousness whilst reading the stories, I was then inspired to research into the unconscious mind, Freud’s theories, and surrealist theories. These all gave me a whole new wealth of information, which all connected extremely well with the concept of not everything being exactly what it seems on the surface, and the contrasts between positivity and negativity, as discovered in a fairy tale. One of Freud’s theories was that our conscious mind is rational and aware, however our unconscious mind is more aware of our discomforts - our pains, anxieties and conflicts. Most things outside of our awareness are unacceptable and unpleasant.
So my work is all about the contrasts between consciousness and subconsciousness, life and death, light and dark, positivity and negativity, reality and fantasy... To inspire artwork, I looked into artists and designers who had elements of darkness in their work, but at the same time beauty and light. A major influence throughout has been Alexander McQueen, and also the artist Ian Francis. I feel that they both fit the category of juxtaposing imagery and meanings brilliantly.
My two pieces have been made by mixing many different materials, technique and processes together. They both started with initial photography, followed by painting and then various stages and mixing of layers and further illustration on photoshop, before finally being printed. The contrasts are just as important in the materials as in the imagery itself, mixing digital and low tech is another way to represent the juxtaposition of positive and negative.
My pieces are both a good representation of ‘Darkness in Disguise’ as there is a fine line between whether they are positive or negative, and there is a blur between reality and surrealism. The colours are especially confusing as they are pretty and especially in the deer girl piece, you would expect them to be cooler, to be more appropriate for the sombre mood. However, at the same time there are very dark, deep shadows, creating an air of mystery. The imagery used in both the pieces are both loosely taken from my initial fairy tale research, a lot of the symbolisms were connected to the human body, nature and animals, so I used these as a theme throughout my project, and into my final prints.
From doing this project, I have learnt that our unconscious mind is very dark, and in life nothing is totally straight forward. Nothing is always quite as it seems.
‘One feels inclined to say that the intention of life, is that man should be happy, but this is not included in the plan of creation.’ Sigmund Freud, 1930.
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