Sapiens I, based on images by photographer Seth Casteel, explores the notion that at birth we enter into a system governed by other peoples idea of reality.

This is touched on in ‘Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind’, referred to as the Imagined Order — ‘…every person is born into a pre-existing imagined order, and his or her desires are shaped from birth by its dominant myths…an inter-subjective order, existing in the shared imaginations of thousands and millions of people’, (Yuval Noah Harai, 2011, p.128, p.131).

Inspired by Bridget Davis (fellow TOAF artist), the work is created primarily with ink and water. In contrast to previous series that showed structure and layering this series is spontaneous and organic in nature.

References

Harari, Y. (2011). Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind. London: Vintage

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The series was produced over seven weeks from early February 2016 while undertaking a new course of study in garment construction and design. Operating directly within an institution after three years of working predominately in isolation provided an unexpected insight into phenomena of character, which unconsciously shaped the direction of the work. The result is a more emotionally charged series, which touches on ideas of the will (the heart) and the intellect (the head) as discussed by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788—1860) in his central work ‘The World as Will and Representation’. (Schopenhauer, 2015, p. 491)

The will, as the thing in itself, constitutes the inner, true and indestructible nature of man; […] The intellect is the secondary phenomenal; the organism the primary phenomenon, that is, the immediate manifestation of the will; the will is metaphysical, the intellect physical; —the intellect, like its objects, is merely phenomenal appearance; the will alone is the thing in itself.

The relationship between the two is perhaps best likened to ‘the strong blind man who carries on his shoulders the lame man who can see.’ (Schopenhauer, 2015, p. 496)

These works were created through experimental drawing; combining the artist signature thread drawing with ink on paper, paint on cotton and woodcut combined with ink and gold leaf. Although based predominantly on only two images, one of Bridgette Bardot and one of Kate Moss, the result is twenty-one genuinely unique pieces.

References

Schopenhauer, A. (2015) The World as Will and Representation. 7th ed Great Britain: Amazon

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Work listed here forms part of a series which focuses solely on the British super-model, icon and muse that is Kate Moss. The series was created during May 2015. It consists predominantly of Thread Drawings with select pieces created as Line Drawings and Syringe Paintings. All works are based on images of Kate from the Playboy Magazine 60th Edition photo shoot. Each work examines the human condition, dissecting the psychical personality while encompassing aspects of narcissism, gender and the life and death drives, as discussed by Freud.

These concepts are communicated through ‘breaking' and 'reforming' the image(s), using geometric shapes (and pixilated images) in combination with the straight and diagonal lines formed by sewing thread onto paper. Each piece embraces the idea of deconstruction and the spiritual importance of the line as explored by Dutch avant-garde, constructivist Theo van Doesburg while the style of abstraction termed ‘painterly architectonics’, developed by Russian Cubo-Furturist Lyubov Popova, is clearly visible. The colour palette for this series was inspired by the Playboy brand and from specific images in the 60th Edition issue combined with 24kt gold leaf.

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The series of work presented below forms one part of four related series of work created during the first half of 2015 and focuses solely on the British super-model, icon and muse that is Kate Moss. Using found images from her Vogue Paris April 2008 and October 2009 photo shoots in combination with images going as far back as 1993, each work examines the human condition, dissecting the psychical personality while encompassing aspects of narcissism, gender and the life and death drives, as discussed by Freud.

These concepts are communicated through ‘breaking’ and ‘reforming’ the image(s), using regularly shaped blocks (and pixilated images) in combination with the straight and diagonal lines formed by sewing thread onto paper. Each piece embraces the idea of deconstruction and the spiritual importance of the line as explored by Dutch avant-garde, constructivist Theo van Doesburg. The colourpalette for this series was inititally inspired by the British luxury fashion house Burberry.

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The series of work presented below forms one part of four related series of work created during the first half of 2015 and focuses solely on the British super-model, icon and muse that is Kate Moss. Using found images from her Vogue Paris April 2008 and October 2009 photo shoots in combination with images going as far back as 1993, each work examines the human condition, dissecting the psychical personality while encompassing aspects of narcissism, gender and the life and death drives, as discussed by Freud.

These concepts are communicated through ‘breaking’ and ‘reforming’ the image(s), using regularly shaped blocks (and pixilated images) in combination with the straight and diagonal lines formed by sewing thread onto paper. Each piece embraces the idea of deconstruction and the spiritual importance of the line as explored by Dutch avant-garde, constructivist Theo van Doesburg. The colourpalette for this series was inititally inspired by the British luxury fashion house Burberry.

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The study presented below continues to explore ideas of narcissism, gender and the life and death drives, as discussed by Freud. Each piece focuses on the conflict between ego-libido and object-libido, how one can consume the other. The work examines the state of being in love '…which presents itself to us as an abandonment by the individual of his own personality in favour of an object-cathexis…' and how through the intervention of object-cathexis the state of narcissism becomes visible as two parts — sexual energy and the energy of the ego drives. 

References

Freud, S. (2003) Beyond the Pleasure Principle and Other Writings. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Books

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The study presented below continues to explore ideas of narcissism, gender and the life and death drives, as discussed by Freud. Each piece focuses on the conflict between ego-libido and object-libido, how one can consume the other. The work examines the state of being in love '…which presents itself to us as an abandonment by the individual of his own personality in favour of an object-cathexis…' and how through the intervention of object-cathexis the state of narcissism becomes visible as two parts — sexual energy and the energy of the ego drives. 

References

Freud, S. (2003) Beyond the Pleasure Principle and Other Writings. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Books

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The study presented below explores ideas of narcissism, gender and the life and death drives, as discussed by Freud. Each piece focuses on the conflict between ego-libido and object-libido, how one can consume the other. The work examines the state of being in love '…which presents itself to us as an abandonment by the individual of his own personality in favour of an object-cathexis…' and how through the intervention of object-cathexis the state of narcissism becomes visible as two parts — sexual energy and the energy of the ego drives. 

References

Freud, S. (2003) Beyond the Pleasure Principle and Other Writings. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Books

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The pieces presented below form part of a body of work produced throughou 2014 inspired by Freud’s  structural model of the human mind, which Freud suggested is made up of three interconnecting entities, the id, the ego and the super-ego. Each work focuses on the outside restrictions imposed on us by the external authority from childhood, while exploring aspects of narcissism and the life and death drives as discussed by Freud, through imagery depicting fashion and art icons, himself as a child, his family and abstractions of the human form.

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The pieces presented below form part of a body of work produced throughou 2014 inspired by Freud’s  structural model of the human mind, which Freud suggested is made up of three interconnecting entities, the id, the ego and the super-ego. Each work focuses on the outside restrictions imposed on us by the external authority from childhood, while exploring aspects of narcissism and the life and death drives as discussed by Freud, through imagery depicting fashion and art icons, himself as a child, his family and abstractions of the human form.

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