Hybrid Heroes ProjectTitle: Lion Alter Ego Size: x 36 cm Medium: Cardboard and hot glue Completion date: February 2022 Exhibition Text: The objective for this piece to create an alter ego out of cardboard that would transform my body into this alter persona. I chose to manipulate the cardboard to create a lion head that would represent a mask of confidence and bravery. |
Inspiration
An artist by the name of Nick Cave is known for his work creating "soundsuits". These wear-ables are made from different mediums such as buttons, post cards, magnets, patches and tee-shirts. Cave is a artist, dancer and performative artist and creates these costumes with the intention of build metaphorical armor that was originally in response to the Rodney King beatings. Now, these suits represent empowerment and perseverance.
I was both inspired by the conceptual and contextual aspect of Cave's work. I was drawn to the figures that covered the whole person and the way the people would become what they were acting as. This is especially seen in the suit on the far right as the person becomes the bouquet of flowers in an beautiful suffocating way. This made obvious to me that I definitely wanted my wearable to be intentionally over sized in a way where it became me.
Furthermore, I was inspired by the way the suits represented empowerment. My research caused me to have a definite opinion that I wanted my suit to embody some sort of powerful emotion. |
Planning
In this planning session I first explored what I wanted to create. I went through different options exploring what meaning I would tie to them but settled for a lion. I liked the way the lion would represent an alter ego that gifted me with confidence and strength, almost a mask to eliminate insecurity or weakness. I also worked on figuring out how I wanted to portray this lion and to what extent it would cover my body. I liked the way the head cap/mask was representative of this shield of bravery I used to mask insecurity. The two planning sketches below depict structural elements of my piece. On the left, I worked on deciding what structure I wanted to use for my lion. I chewed on questions such as: What will support the mane? To what extent will the costume cover my body? Will my entire head be covered? On the right is a sketchbook page I dedicated to sketching a quick picture of a lion I found of Google and then examining all of the little elements I may have not ever noticed before, for instance the white fur under the eyes or the position of the ears. |
Process
I started out by experimenting with the qualities of cardboard and it's possibilities. I learned that by tearing the top and bottom layer of pieces of cardboard, I exposed the raw corrugated layer that had a beautiful rippled pattern. This looked rather messy though and had torn edges. By soaking the cardboard in warm water, I allowed for the glue to melt and the layers to remove more naturally. This left me with a perfect layer of corrugated cardboard that when dried, was perfect to work with.
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I set up a whole assembly line-like process, first submerging the cardboard in the bathtub, then slowly peeling the layers off, next removing the paper from the bathtub and laying it flat on various surfaces in my bathroom and finally drying it with a hair-dryer. The process was pretty disgusting looking as the water turned yellow! I hypothesized that the glue used to make the cardboard might have been yellow-ish.
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The first thing I built was the face. I had an assortment of colored cardboard ranging from reds to oranges to browns. I initially loved the idea of using different colors to create a mosaic-like create that was composed of different shapes and a geometric form. I decided it would look nice to randomly use the different colors with no secondary intent and got started on the nose. I created my figures by looking at the images in my sketch and then drawing these shapes on paper. After cutting the shape out, I would transfer it to the cardboard of my choice and then flip it to also have a mirror copy of the shape. Though the colors of my piece were random, I knew I wanted it to be symmetrical and by using one stencil for both sides, I ensured this.
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For the nose, which I began with. I used five different cardboard pieces and assembled them with hot glue on the backside to create a seamless appearance. I tried my best to create edges that lines up perfectly and had sharp angles. For around the cheek area, I scored the cardboard so it was more malleable and would bend to fit my face.
I built my face piece by piece focusing on symmetry and creating the form of my lion. Below shows the process of the face coming to life slowly. |
After completing the face I decided that the geometric and colorful face I had created did not match the original intention of my piece. This was a sad discovery but luckily, the fix was easy. I ripped up pieces of brown cardboard and layered them over the face I had created. This served well as a skeleton for the "skin" I glued to the face. Because of this technique, the face had a geometric body with a natural appearence. |
Next, it was time to find a way to fasten the lion face to my face. I started by creating a headband that was thick enough to hold both the head and the mane I was going to create later on. The image to the right shows the fit of the cardboard on my head.
Next, I held the lion face up to the headband and took pictures to find at what height the mask covered my face and fit naturally. |
Now, it was time to start the mane. I had secured the face to the headband and had a nice base to start with. I made lots of strips of the corrugated paper by soaking and peeling my cardboard and then cut them into half inch strips making one end taper into a triangle so the piece would look unified and cohesive as well as the ends all intentional. Though my strips did not vary in width much, they did very in length from three inches to three feet.
I flipped the lion head upside down and stacked the hair pieces on in a brick like stack, alternating the pieces so they laid naturally. |
After finishing the mane I went back to the face to add more dimension and detail.
Here is a before and after of that process: I built up the nose area to portrude more as it does in real lions and used the handles of a paper bag to make the lines around the nose and mouth which helped frame the snout. |
Reflection & Critique
I was incredibly impressed with my time management and the work I put into this piece. I honestly believe it would not be what it is and was for the UWM exhibition had I not put the time and effort into the work. I furthered my skills as an artist through working with a new material I had never been exposed to before. Furthermore, I was not super familiar with sculpture work or wearable art before this project and I gained comfortability in both of those aspects while creating my lion head. I also developed as an artist through creating an art work that was so physically and emotionally centered around me. The planning of this piece required personal reflection on my strengths and weaknesses and because of that I grew as an artist and a person through this project.
My biggest struggle when creating this piece was starting. I had never worked with wearable art before and creating something that had to not only fit on my head but fit on it comfortably was difficult. My favorite part of this project was creating the dramatic mane and layering the pieces of cardboard to match the vision in my head. This was very therapeutic to me. My least favorite part of this project was probably the face as getting everything perfectly symmetrical was a nightmare.
My biggest struggle when creating this piece was starting. I had never worked with wearable art before and creating something that had to not only fit on my head but fit on it comfortably was difficult. My favorite part of this project was creating the dramatic mane and layering the pieces of cardboard to match the vision in my head. This was very therapeutic to me. My least favorite part of this project was probably the face as getting everything perfectly symmetrical was a nightmare.
My inspiration for this piece was Nick Cave and I incorporated his style into my project through the presence of an emotion behind the meaning of the piece and the over sized aspect of the suit. Cave's suits cover half of the model's bodies and I added mane strips that went far down my back to mimick that effect.
Some similarities between Cave's work and mine were the dramatic over sized aspect of the art. This was something I made sure to include in my work as it was one of my favorite things about Cave's work. Furthermore, the different textures in both pieces create more interesting and unique works that lack unity in the best way.
A couple of differences between Cave's work and mine are the color pallets and content of the work. Cave utilizes vibrant colors and many colors in his Suits to create chaos and make them really stand out. My lion was completely brown and more natural. Cave also creates abstract pieces whereas mine was (hopefully) clearly a lion to all viewers. Lastly, Cave creates art using many mediums. In the picture to the right, we see a quilted rug, flowers and other textures. My work was solely cardboard creating a lion. In the future, Id love to create an abstract-esque wearable like Cave did. |
ACT questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
The soundsuits created by Nick Cave inspired the way I created my lion mask to be intentionally over-sized in order to convey a story and emotion.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Nick Cave works to express a feeling and political message. The suits were created with the intention of building metaphorical armor that was originally in response to the Rodney King beatings. Now, these suits represent empowerment and perseverance.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Through this process, I discovered that costumes can be used to portray culture and ideas even when the initial meaning isn't completely apparent.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My research worked to find other artists that not only made wearable costumes but made costumes that told a story and conveyed a message as my lion was created to portray a mask that gives bravery and confidence to the person it cloaks.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During my research I inferred that by making my costume larger then reality, it helps to further convey the meaning behind said piece.
The soundsuits created by Nick Cave inspired the way I created my lion mask to be intentionally over-sized in order to convey a story and emotion.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Nick Cave works to express a feeling and political message. The suits were created with the intention of building metaphorical armor that was originally in response to the Rodney King beatings. Now, these suits represent empowerment and perseverance.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Through this process, I discovered that costumes can be used to portray culture and ideas even when the initial meaning isn't completely apparent.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My research worked to find other artists that not only made wearable costumes but made costumes that told a story and conveyed a message as my lion was created to portray a mask that gives bravery and confidence to the person it cloaks.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During my research I inferred that by making my costume larger then reality, it helps to further convey the meaning behind said piece.
Bibliography
Cave, Nick. Soundsuit "Date Artwork Created", Renwick Gallery, DC