After initial visual research into other artists’ work and possible directions, I decided to focus my response to the Diversity Now brief towards women and the variations in bodies, style and appearance. I want to specifically challenge the attitude the fashion industry has towards flaws, imperfections, different body types and body choices, e.g. the (lack of) acceptance of body hair, tattoos, piercings and even skin/body differences that cannot be helped.
In our collage workshop I started thinking about themes within “Diversity” that I could explore. I found myself selecting images around body standards, sexuality and gender as those are often areas I enjoy discussing and challenging. This first collage was very minimal but I think it worked best this way as it had a strong enough visual message with just the two images, creating a theme of masculinity and sexuality, and the idealized body.
In this piece of collage I focused more on the female body, slicing the body to resemble the pig image next to it. I wanted to create a thoughtful message around women’s body shapes; our lack of confidence with our bodies and our desire to constantly change ourselves. However the pig illustration also touches on how women’s bodies are seen as meat or something desirable, to be consumed. I experimented with stitching into the collage which I had not thought of before but I really feel it has the ability to add to what you are trying to say with an image.
This expanded on the discussion of the sexualisation of women’s bodies. Although very simple again in composition, I think I was able to create a strong message, aided by the addition of type and sewing.
After selecting London-based fashion label Shrimps as my brand for my anti-fashion campaign, I conducted a shoot both on a digital SLR and on film, to determine which ‘look’ I preferred. As Shrimps’ imagery often has a vintage, soft and girly feel I chose a disposable camera to give an unfocused/dreamy effect which also fit with my trends and the looks I was displaying. After playing around with lookbook layouts using both the digital and analog images, I’ve decided on the analog as I prefer the low-fi, artistic look: Continue reading
For our group trend project, we decided on REJECTION/REBELLION as a theme, and my chosen macro trend within that is to focus on the growing talk around body positivity and femininity. My tutorial with Noel Chapman helped me to look at this theme in more of a seasonal, temporary way, looking at the body, female form and skin for a trend focus, while still being able to include my interest in the area of body positivity and feminism. After my initial gallery research I looked into inspiration from artists and makers that focus on these themes, such as Maisie Cousins (pictured) and Jackie Dives. I will also look at female art collectives to find more inspiration before I begin creating my own work for my mood boards.