Identity Portrait

Grace

Artist Statement

Grace is a heavily symbolic tryptic intended to outwardly contemplate a singular human existence from the perspective of the artist. The photographs depicted represent the intuitive, the mundane, and the inconspicuous detail aching to be ignored and screaming to be noticed that sleep in the conscious mind. The symbolism represents peace, incongruity, stoicism in peril, among a multitude of other transcendental concepts. One wing is fashioned to the model's back, representing the desire to behave in a morally perfect way, yet the large, jagged shoulder padding on the other side presents a painful misapprehension that this morality isn't possible in such a perturbedly mortal vessel. The crucifix is a symbol of perseverance through suffering; it is a monument to the toils of life in all things, but the primary representation originates in the childhood of the model: financial, educational, social, political, personal pain and struggle, and the escape from this pain and struggle which results in the tumbling realization that struggle is permanent. Armor coats the torso of the body, which protects the vital organs; the physical body is protected, but the armor creates a barrier between the experienced and the emotional. Emotions are no longer expressed outwardly but gather a burning, seething glow in the core of the model; this creates an almost nuclear passion for self-improvement, self-sacrifice, and near-self-mutilation for the potential that the model will feel real feelings as a result. On the face is worn a blank slated mask. The true identity of the model is not known, as it is evolving per the second; this grotesquely exponential rate of the mind revising its own processes develops an insatiable greed for profound truths in the universe. There is not an identity here - upon close inspection, one would find that a cosmic tear in the making is depicted above, nothing less. 

In Process Photos

Materials

• Masking Tape
• 16 Gauge Galvanized Iron Wire
• Insulated Foam
• White Acrylic Gesso
• White Butcher Paper
• Wood Glue
• Pine Wood

Dimensions

• Wing 5’8” x 1’6” x 3 1/2”
• Scepter 5’3” x 1’1 1/2” x 3/4”
• Mask 6 1/2” x 10” x 2 1/2”
• Shoulder Pad 10 3/4” x 7 3/4” x 1’3 1/4”
• Chest Pieces 7 1/4” x 7 1/4” x 1 1/2”
• Torso Pieces 1’4” x 6 1/2” x 5/8”

Research Pictures

Eaton Nott

http://foundations3ddesign.blogspot.com/2016/07/eaton-nott-designers.html

Gladys Paulus

http://www.gladyspaulus.co.uk/