#poppiewood

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Flesh mirror - close up photos of the flesh wound’s detailing.

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Final pieces.

I decided to present all of my final pieces of work from the start of the project because I did not know which one represented the strongest piece. I thought that it would be the fluke mirror and the casted face because to me, they were the hardest to work on and taught me a lot. Although during my crit Alan mentioned that the most eyecatching piece to him was the broken arm piece. He said that if it was alone it would represent something more than what it does being arranged in amongst the rest. The class feed back was the best that I have had yet. A lot of the class were effected by the real feel of my dead skin works and that really pleased me.

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Finishing touches of the final face.

Once i had completed the mirror i decided to go back to the face cast that i had created and add some final finishing touches.

I carved two small indents into the wrists of the cast before wedging some twisted branches into the holes and fixing them with pva glue. I wanted to tie the mirror with the sculpture so i added the twigs to them both. I also coated a layer of shellac over the top of the entire sculpture including the branches to ensure that the whole piece would dry, harden and then eventually crack.

I am very happy with the outcome of my final piece, the whole process has taught me a lot about revisiting old works and recreating methods of techniques and processes. I have really enjoyed working with latex and shellac, they realte together rather well.

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Further development....

I wanted the colours to pop more than they did, i felt as though they looked really flat against the textured surface so i added a layer of pva glue over the entire structure. This created a wet or slimy look on the texture of the skin. I also wanted to add some red tones to give the effect of old blood stains so i added a generous application of fake blood to the lips and dabbed around the mouth to give the same bleeding effect as the previous stains and encourage the loud colour to blend in with the surrounding colours. I also topped the lips with a coating of Shellac to encase the stains and stop the fake blood from peeling once dried. The shellac also splits the fake blood in areas which the blood has been applied weakly, i like the effect very much.

Note: I finally coloured in the mouth also as it was a major diversion, anyone that had saw my piece asked me about the discolouration within the mouth and they wondered what it meant. Now it is gone there is no diversions from the visual aspect to which i have added.

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Further development.....

I still have this mirror that i really dont want to let go to waste....

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Further development...

Keeping the surface of the sculpture damp i then added water diluted (cheap domestic) bleach to parts of the face and hands that i felt needed lightened and burnt with bright colouring. 

In hindsight i regret adding the bleach as I adored the eerie mono-tonal patterns that the Quink and tissue paper had created without the additive of colour....

I do feel as though i need to change this piece completely in colour to grasp the full visual effects of the colour distortion that occurs during decomposition, to keep to the theme. I will keep this technique in mind for future projects.

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Further development of final.

Once the first application of diluted Quink ink was added, this has to be wet before the next application is added for the bleeding process to take full effect. I then added non diluted Quink ink back over the lips, finger tips, nostrils and eyelid edges as i did this the two tones bled together and created a really nice effect.

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I found a mixture of paint, washing powder and lord knows what else in the studios that a fellow student had left lying around. I liked the texture and thought I would put it to good use. I used a small stick to smash up the hard mixture into pieces of small rocks. I then used pva glue to stick it around the base of the dead weeds, I did this to cover up the indents made into the arm, also to create a more organic base for the dead weeds to have bloomed from.

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I found a mixture of paint, washing powder and lord knows what else in the studios that a fellow student had left lying around. I liked the texture and thought I would put it to good use. I used a small stick to smash up the hard mixture into pieces of small rocks. I then used pva glue to stick it around the base of the dead weeds, I did this to cover up the indents made into the arm, also to create a more organic base for the dead weeds to have bloomed from.

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Further development.

I then began to add tissue paper into the base of the rib cage to add texture and form, to suggest remains within the shell. I then began to paint a grey Quink ink wash over the entire structure before adding tissue paper over the top. The chemical reaction of the watered down Quink ink against the tissue paper has always captured my eyes. I love the bruising effect that is created especially when bleach is added over the top. I decided to add tissue paper because of its natural ability to tesr and rip under the slightest of pressure. This would work to my advantage as it would represent the decomposing skin of a dead body. This is the first initial cosmetic layer therefore I added in some green and yellow ink around the exposed areas to symbolise bruising or infection. I need to wait for the clay and coatings to dry before painting in the details.

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Further development for machete.

At this stage the majority of the wire armature is covered by the red clay, i decided to avoid the hands and feet as they were too fiddly to create. I also do not like to draw hands and feet in detail either which is strange because i love the visual aspects of the human hand, the curves and creases of the palm and the protruding veins from the back hand, i just love them!..... not to be recreated for this development though.

To create the details i took a small match stick to which i snapped in a way that would create a rugged edge, I then used the frayed match stick to carve into the limbs of the figure which exposed the wire armature underneath. The armature can be exposed in small segments all over the figure to emphasise the decomposing body which reveals the skeleton.

Note i did not create any markings on the face this is because patients who suffer from Cotard’s Delusion suffer from delusional misidentification and therefore can not recognise the face that they are wearing.

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Social experiment.

I decided to creat 3 separate group chats on facebook; one with some family members, one with some college friends and the last one with childhood friends. Each message contained the same content yet received very different replies which was refreshing and very interesting to read….

My message wrote,

Hello, I am collecting some research for a college project and I was wondering if some of you creative minds could tell me what you believe your own shadow defines? Why is it there? What does it represent, in your own opinion. Would you feel lost without it? Does it make you safe or scared? Any and all suggestions would be highly appreciated.

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Here are some visual aspects from the Walt Disney production of Snow White.

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Another version of the tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

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After much research into the Brother Grimm’s stories I found that the tale of Snow White and the seven dwarfs related to the Fritzl account the most.

Snow White has seven dwarfs whilst Fritzl forced his daughter to bore seven children.

One of the dwarfs is called Dopey and isnt included much within the story, Elisabeth had a son to Fritzl called Micheal who died as a new born.

Snow white was enchanted by the evil queen who tricked her into pricking her finger with a needle which contained a sleeping curse while Fritzl used an Ether soaked rag to put his daughter to sleep whilst he barricaded her into the dungeon. 

True loves kiss broke the sleeping spell for Snow White whilst the sickness of her ill daughter pushed Elisabeth into begging Fritzl to take her to the hospital where she was able to be released from the prison that her father had created.