Drawings relating to my ongoing fixation with Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine and Hercules and the Centaur, Nessus.
I have been working with a few different components / ideas in these drawings. The sculptural influence is present, but I am increasingly growing interested in the abstraction of the characters, such as altering the violent character into a pattern or utilizing the shadows. The pattern found in these works was pulled from a Winchester rifle breach, which is a common socialized method of disguising violence: dress it up. (see gif below)
portion of an engraved breach turned into a pattern
I am also incorporating references to the site of the original sculptures, Loggia de Lanzi, which has vaulted ceilings held together with bracing, which often features scaffolding surrounding a sculpture as renovation work is undergone.
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This shadow is an importnat way in which the object relates to the site. Sculptures tend to cast shadows, which can be seen as a 2D graphic representation of a complex 3D piece, offering a flattened by-product distilling the traits of the object. Drawing from classic film, such as Bela Lugosi as Dracula, the shadow has a role of it’s own to play, which can be as profound as the piece itself.
As a lengthy aside: I remember reading that in the Victorian heyday educated men would study the proportions of a profile, which would determine personality traits, such as trustworthiness. (If anyone can find this let me know.) This ability to distill human characteristics from an amalgam of physical traits links to early profiling and stereotyping. A prime example is Galton’s composite portraits of criminals where he attempted to isolate the common facial characteristic of a criminal out of several overlaid photos.
Ryder in Roswell 