30.9.21 - Leaf Frottage + Wire Sculpture

 

With a chunky graphite pencil I created these rubbings from leaves of the various plants Tom brought in, I love how well the veins showed up and it's interesting how some came up much stronger than others. I scanned it and printed out some copies, turning the colour density up to emphasise the intricate lines. I also tried some copies in different colours: 

I went over some of the copies with watercolours to crate a washy background to bring out the various leaf shapes. The style is quite graphic and the markings really remind me of mono-prints, together with the single colour background these pieces kind of gesture towards pop-art.

In the afternoon I did some 3D work with wire, paper and masking tape, using an image of a crow as a guide. I started off by making the little feet with wire, and when it came to make the body I decided it would be hard to make it entirely out of wire without any kind of structure to shape it around, otherwise it might all uncoil. I did this by packing on scrunched up paper held together with masking tape to make a vague bird figure which I could then wrap wire around.

(I thought it looked quite funny like this so I was tempted to leave it at that)

I personally prefer how it looked before adding the wire, the edges of the paper and tape imply feathers and it looks very lightweight like a real bird. However the plus side of the wire is that it references the metal spikes that shops use to prevent birds from perching on them, particularly pigeons who are genetically programmed to seek cliff sides where they once lived before domestication. Speaking of the city, I took a couple of photographs while waiting for the tram home from college because I saw something that was mentioned in the project brief.

Signs of natural life in a fabricated, concrete environment, pushing through the cracks and growing despite all the odds. It makes me wonder how long it would take plants to entirely reclaim a city if there were no humans there.