Sustained Investigation #6

Title: Inked in the Cycle

Size: 16'' x 18''

Statement:

This piece is representing female divinity and the female connection to moon cycles. I wanted to show a woman with a connection to divinity through art on her body. I also wanted to use real lace for the bra to show a little flaunt of femininity. I love getting to know the stories behind people’s tattoos and what they mean to them. I think it’s interesting how people express their beliefs and passions through art. In this vain of interest, I wanted to show the historical relationship between the moon and women.

For my first layer, I used acrylic. I then used colored pencil over the acrylic on the body to find finer points and more depth in shadow. I also used colored pencil in the hair to create diversity in the marks. For the bra straps I used lace and silk. Silk and lace is very often considered to be very feminine materials. I then bent metal to make the clasps on the bra. Since I didn’t want just a plain blue background, I used colored pencils to create designs. I originally wanted to add a mirror that the woman was looking into, but I didn’t have the right materials when I wanted to do it. The colored pencils in the background also didn’t work as well as I wanted them to. I intended to start with darker blue near the body and then fade into lighter blue closer to the border. The light blue just blended in with the acrylic under it so I didn’t continue all the way to the border.

Overall the piece changed a lot. I originally wanted to make an image of a very thin woman (ribs sticking out, sickly skinny) with a tattoo representing female divinity. When I started painting the body, the perspective made the body look unproportionate and weird. I then decided to make the woman look healthier and add more tattoos. I kept the focus as female divinity. This piece was meant to show a contrast in female divinity and female beauty standards. For my next pieces I need to focus on adding more figures and objects to make the pieces more complex.