Melpomenia
I intend to make a visual
narrative concerning nature and man made structures. I will be location drawing
areas of interest where nature has taken over. This will range from buildings
to small incidentals, such as plants growing through paving slabs. I aim to
collect an interesting and diverse body of sketches and paintings in order to
use later. I will also be researching places that I am unable to get to online
and taking inspiration from photography of some more extreme examples (as shown
below).
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| Ta Phrom Temple and strangler fig trees roots |
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| Photo by Peter Lippmann; http://www.peterlippmann.com/lippmann3/personal_work/paradise_parking/paradiseparking_08_peterlippmann.html |
I will also be looking at modern structures, currently untouched by nature, and re-imagining them in the future when they have been abandoned and left for nature to take it’s course. I was influenced by Steven Siegel, in the way that he takes newspapers, rubbish and other man made objects, turns them into sculptures, and then allows nature to take over. I like the idea of the Newspaper stacks containing all of the concerns of humanity becoming insignificant in comparison to nature. As they rot back into the earth it gives us a sense of how fleeting our concerns our in comparison to the earth.
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Other influences include literature; The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks fascinates me in the way the protagonist has built a complex ‘factory’ from crude, every day objects. Matter by Ian M. Banks captured my imagination with a description of an abandoned mill, it’s large mechanisms overrun by nature. Finally, Foundation and Earth by Issac Asimov has a chapter based on the planet Melpomenia where we see a great civilization has deserted the planet.
The planet itself, however, was rendered virtually uninhabitable by a radical climate change; the only life form able to survive it was a carbon-dioxide feeding 'moss'. I found the emptiness and quiet of this chapter stirring and the descriptions of the futuristic technology and its demise to the planet inspiring. The working title therefore for this project will be Melpomenia, which Asimov presumably derived from Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy. I aim to create a similar atmosphere to this planet using images created from the current state of our world. It will be ambiguous in the way that it perhaps has a post apocalyptic feel, yet it is created from things we can easily see around ourselves. I will be exploring a number of elements including plants, machinery (large industrial mechanisms), outdated technology and modern technology. I want to explore not only a take over of nature but perhaps a coming together of the two, for example, natural machinery. This will be done through mixed media, ink painting, collage, paper cuts, mono prints and acrylic painting. I want to be able juxtapose natural fluidity with severe lines and angles, bring them together in a form of natural and mechanical harmony.
I am looking to create large vertical images in order to
be able to crop and create further ambiguity. In this respect, my main
influence comes from the work of Klimt, his use of verticals. In Judith II (Salome) we see how Klimt has
stacked up the compositional elements to create intensity within the scene. As
the figure is cropped we find ourselves without any set location, making the
figures are powerful and striking. I aim to employ a similar technique with my
images, creating layers through collaging paintings and paper cuts together. I
aim to make a three panelled folding screen as a final piece. I have thought of
many options for this, perhaps a series of layered transparent images, lit from
behind, or an image with further projected moving parts on it. It is possible
that I will create three large images and hang them in series much like
Japanese Pillar prints. This will create an open landscape, making the image
continue beyond the boundaries of the painting. As with the Japanese tradition,
this extreme selection in intended to ‘encapsulate the whole’[2],
the landscape continues beyond the boundaries of the image. This continuation
outside of the painting was a device widely used by artists influenced by
Japanese works and is often found in vertical formats and Pillar Pictures that
I have found inspiring throughout my previous projects. I would also like to
construct a concertina book in this vertical format, folding out like a large
map. This is perhaps another aspect to consider in the production, employ map
like qualities within the image. I have no doubt that through continuous
working, aspects of this proposal will change, however my final intended
outcome is some form of visual narrative documenting nature and man.
