Eroticism and the Body in Art

Today, for my Opus studies, I compared these 2 works of art in my answer to the question...

Is the body in art always eroticised, if so why? To answer the question I have done lots of reading on the history of psychoanalysis, gender issues and 'the gaze'. All very interesting stuff.

Flowers & Snow

When I was in the Rockies at Lake Louise a couple of weeks ago I was attracted to the faded colours of this late summer border planting.

We went into the Louise Railway Station restaurant for lunch. When we came out the flowers were covered in snow. I was too busy running to the car park to stop & get a picture of them in their changed state. We are always warned about the changeable weather in the mountains but I didn't expect the seasons to change from summer to fall while having lunch.

The Odalisque & Bathing

I have been studying images of nude women all week for my new Opus module. It is very interesting to read different people's opinions as to why nude women were featured so often in art.

Two of the most interesting views are in the book 'Women and Art contested Territory' by Judy Chicago & Edward Lucie-Smith. As one would expect, Judy hates these 'masterpieces'.

Hiking in the Rockies

I went for a hike up Paradise Valley in the Rockies this weekend. It was spectacular with the larches turning. BUT, I forgot my camera!

So I am showing you images from a hike I took a couple of weeks ago. There were fresh mushrooms, toadstools and many other types of fungi lining the trail. They were so fresh, dewy & shiny they looked as though they had all emerged overnight. They are great inspiration for future fibre art work.

Opus BA Studies

I have been so busy these past 2 weeks finishing up the summer module of work for the Opus BA course I am doing. This afternoon I put everything in a box and sent it on its way to the UK to be assessed. What a relief. It was a challenging module, all about learning to draw the human figure to express personal ideas.
This is an image of a quick stitch sample I worked up for 1 of the assignments where I explored mothers & roses.
It is already 2 weeks into the new semester so I now must focus on a new module of work.

Canadian Prairies Study

We, Articulation, went to the prairies in August to catch the harvesting of the crop. We saw the high tech modern way...

...where some famers use GPS as they move around vast fields.

We visited a restored historic farm, W R Motherwell Homestead, to see how it was done in the late 1800s.

Prairie Architecture

This is what comes to mind when one thinks of unique Canadian prairie architecture.

The wooden grain elevator standing as a sentinel for its town.

But there is a new sight on the horizon.

Mammoth 'inland terminals'.

Farm Study

We (Articulation -the fibre arts group) had an amazing time this year (each year we go somewhere special together) ...

...out on the Saskatchewan prairies during harvest time.

Over the week, our host, Leann Clifford, a farm girl herself, kept us busy from dawn 'til dusk exploring all things unique, interesting & exciting to be found in the Land of Living Skies.
Each of us now has full flash cards, bulging sketchbooks, grain samples & an armful of brochures to work with to produce a body of work.
Thanks Leann for a wonderful, unforgetable week,

End of Summer

I have just got back from my summer holidays -time out on the magnificent Canadian Prairies and time in the Gulf Islands & Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island & the mainland of British Columbia. I'm still unpacking and catching up on life and need to put in many hours to complete the summer semester of my Opus module which is due in England soon.
It was 3 degrees this morning so it really does feel as though summer is over. Now for my favourite season.

Artawearness IIX Again

I found all of the students' work so thought provoking so I am sharing with you some more images of this year's performance.
A big part of my Opus studies is sketchbooks. I am learning to develop my ideas visually and to record the process on paper which acts as steps towards realising them in textiles. This entry in the performance is by a 4th year drawing student, Jennifer Crighton.

Jennifer has literally brought to life drawings from a sketchbook. One of the interesting things about how these 'creatures' came about is they are a result of 'shared drawings' by a group of her fellow students at ACAD.

Students with 'individually diverse' practices are able to communicate through a sketchbook what fills their imaginations. This collaboration illustrates to me how well ACAD students' creativity & talents are developed at the school.
To quote that now famous quote,
"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution." Albert Einstein
This is the message in the movie 'The Diving Bell & the Butterfly' and it adds memories to the mix.

More Artawearness IIX

Kris Hold, a 4th year sculpture student, crocheted "authentic smelling twine & translucent fishing line to build structural pieces that cover human bodies." In this image I love the way the backs of the heads of those in the audience mimic the textures in the structural pieces.

She is exploring "human form & sculpture", a relationship made all the more dynamic by her startling choreography.

Human Anatomy

The Opus BA module I am doing this semester is Visual Studies where the whole focus is on drawing the human form. We are advised to take a figure drawing class which I did for an intensive week at Red Deer Collage during Series. It is also recommended we study a real human skeleton. I have seen skeletons when I go to the chiropractor and physiothrapist but I haven't had the opportunity to study one. Then I found the book 'New Atlas of Human Anatomy The first 3D Anatomy based on the National Library of Medicine's Visual Human Project, general editor: Thomas McCracken. To get the amazing images, 1mm thick cross sections of a frozen cadaver where photographed. A computer processed the info in these images to generate accurate 3D images which are printed in the book. I have been studying the images of bones, tendons & muscles as I practice drawing the human form.

This book reminded me of another student's entry in the ACAD Artawearness IIX performance. Amy Malbeuf made a series of anatomical costumes where each one showed a different system in the human body.

It was a weird sensation to see each system in motion. With the black costume in low lighting one didn't notice the rest of the human form. It was as though Amy had taken the images in the book to the next stage and put them in motion.

Amy said, "It was a comment on our society's emphasis on over-consumption & superficiality." Great work Amy. Can't wait to see what you come up with next year.

Alberta College of Art + Design, Artawearness IIX

This Is Kyle Nylund, a gifted fibre arts graduate from Alberta College of Art + Design here. His costumes, makeup & hair design & choreography all came together to delight the audience.

Kyle told me his entry this year was largely influenced by his experiences at Burning Man in the Nevada desert.

Kyle said, " I have combined masculine & feminine materials as signifiers to create a world that exemplifies confidence, sexual liberation, & the severity of the desert." A wheelchair bound mermaid?

More on the Feminine

This is Taryn Mckay's entry in the ACAD Artawearness IIX perfomance earlier this year. "The nest headpieces I have made represent fertility & the female. They symbolise a major role that women play in society as mothers & caretakers. Each piece speaks about an issue or decision that all women are faced with in their lifetimes."

I commend Taryn for tackling an important issue in such a quietly powerful way. Notice how she has made the audience focus on the individual faces of her models

I like this shot where the 2 women are not looking at the issue that affects them directly while the male in the foreground appears to follow the Western academic tradition of the active male viewer looking at passive female models.