Self portrait/puppet, 18.7.20
80 x 25 x12cm
(See details of the second, life sized canvas Self portrait, as a work in progress and more about Self portraits and Body parts)
18.7.20 I think this sculpture has worked very well, especially 'impaled' on the metal pole, with the concrete stand. The hands and feet are especially wonderful, I think, uncanny - familiar, yet uncomfortably unfamiliar. That they hang and that the limbs are empty, unstuffed, also adds some feeling of abjection. Louise Bourgeois said that a hanging object becomes more fragile and vulnerable. The tights have associations with body and are flesh-coloured, which adds to the effect. I'm pleased with the form of the canvas, the breasts, belly, quilted back and blank face. Why is it faceless? It makes it even more uncanny, but in reality it was because I wasn't sure what sort of face I wanted it to have, so I gave it none. Andrea said that she thought the breasts and belly look like a face....I definitely don't want to make it into a puppet, as it's much more interesting as a sculpture. The only issue I have with it is the scale; I now plan to make a life sized sculpture in a similar way.
I'm so grateful that Tim suggested making a puppet, as it inspired me to start making, and this was the outcome. I'm really pleased with it. Is it a mini me?
I'm so grateful that Tim suggested making a puppet, as it inspired me to start making, and this was the outcome. I'm really pleased with it. Is it a mini me?
15.7.20 Sculpting body parts: hands (tights, stuffing and stitch)
15.7.20 Sculpting body parts: feet (tights, stuffing and stitch)
Work in progress, 13.7.20
10.7.20 Tim has suggested that we make puppets for our Danse macabre collaboration. It makes sense, as we're planning a series of videos, each focusing on an aspect of the COVID-19 lockdown. My instinct is always to make something life size, or larger, and my work is also often wearable, but maybe making something smaller will be interesting. I also see a puppet as a kind of maquette. I decided to stitch this one, as I'm interested in the way that cloth can be seen as a second skin. I also wonder about making a series of smaller Body cocoons for my puppet. It would ceratinly give me the opportunity to try out a number of ideas on a smaller scale, but will it have the same impact as live performance? I suspect not, but I'll finish this and then evaluate it.