I love to play with the tension between shape and form. The body in this piece, completed today (maybe completed, maybe not) is flat in places, but has curves in others. I see in this image a wild sexuality, but also an ambivalence. The body is out of control, but still confined.
In my work I often struggle with how to draw the proportions. I have embedded in my mind a certain body type emphasized in the media, idealized. It comes out automatic, a lithe female form. I feel myself rebel against this, wanting the body to be fat, distorted, imperfect but still sensuous. When I look at other people’s art, I feel myself judge art that has idealized females in it, women that look like models. It is not challenging to see their beauty. I want that tension, of sensuality and perhaps repulsion or pause.
This piece started out as an improvised outline, created with an eyedropper of sepia ink dragged over wet paper. Working this way gives me only partial control. The second layer is created with acrylic inks. I am often drawn to the same palette of cyan, golden yellows, scarlet and sepia browns. The bright saturated blue against the warm muted browns is a favorite combination to play with. The original line of the drawing is still visible through the translucent ink, swirls of brown fractals spinning off of the main line. These subtle patterns are beautiful to watch, and I like that they are visible to the close observer.