Experiments with Shape

Influenced by fellow student Sophie Gibbon’s work on wooden circles, I was interested in changing how I used the paper I painted on. While working on the 8-legged horse Slepnrir, from Norse Mythology, I noticed the sides of my paper were not parallel. Due to the shape of this creature, the slant of the left edge fitted the composition of the subject. This then drew my attention to the other angles of the horse and what I could do with them. An interesting observation from James in my SPP Crit, is that one of my collaboration pieces with Sophie Gibbons, of Fenrir and his sons Skol and Hati, has geometric undertones, and I noticed 2 triangles interlocking and the circle and curve creating the sun and moon. Therefore, I attempted to add more interesting shape to a conventional square/rectangle used in art. In keeping with my thought process of this module, I then decided to abstract this idea. I had already painted the Erymanithan Boar from Greek Mythology which was approximately circular in shape. Instead of being precise and using a craft knife of scissors, I decided to tear the paper, following the outline of the creature. This resulted in a white border around the boar as the way I tore it was quite lax. On both this experiments, I had already started painting/drawing on the page before I determined how I would change the shape. The next step would be to start with a pre-determined shape.