What inspired this piece was a comment my old figure sculpture professor made. He was explaining to us that when sculpting the female figure, we should make the head smaller than is proportional. As part of his explanation I directly remember him saying, "It's not sexist, it just looks better."
Let that one sink in for a moment.
I decided with this piece to leap from the half life-size scale I had been working with into a life-size scale. This was also my first attempt with painting my figures instead of glazing. I see technical flaws galore, but for a first attempt, I'm happy with how she came out. I'm really exciting about the paint, because it allows my mark making to come through in a way glaze and terra-sigillatta don't.
With this piece I also decided to play with proportions. I am fascinated with how manipulating or mutating the body affects the viewer. For me it often creates an unsettling, visceral response I can feel in my body. So I exaggerated the head, hips, and spine. Her position is slightly defensive, but her gaze is aggressive. The hand on the chin is a nod to Rodin; if I'm screwing with male sculptor's perceptions of female sculptures, I almost have to acknowledge Rodin and his posse.
From here on out my sculptures are just going to get bigger.
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