ecphrasticrecliningnude
Ecphrastic reclining nude
Reclining nude: an ecphrastic fragmentation
Ecphrasis uses one form of art to depict another. In this case, the drawing depicts a (imaginary) sculpture.
The finished work is intended to look like an assortment of weird solid shapes floating in space. The “reference work” may be thought of as explaining the punchline to a joke. Apart from its importance in recording the evolutionary process of creating the finished work, it shouldn't really be exhibited.
Although supposedly abstract, the shapes are meant to suggest the subject to the viewer who is required to work at looking to perceive. “Art's job [is] to try and reassemble these fragments, to make the world a better place.” (Dan Hays)
By producing a two-dimensional view of a three-dimensional creation, the observer's viewpoint is determined and deliberately restricted.
Following the ideas used in my “Fragments” images (2005), in this pose, there was a greater challenge in that the salient four “boulders” weren't so immediately identifiable and there was a tension in the pose that needed to be shown by the relative positioning of the boulders.