Monday, 12 December 2011
Research: Scarification
Scarification is a method of body modification practiced within a range of cultures.
Used for aesthetic, religious and social reason, the practice involves scratching, etching or burning the skin to leave a significant scar on the body.
In west african tribes it is to mark milestones in men and women's lives such as puberty or marriage. Scarifcation on a womans belly signifies her willingness to mother children as the pain she will go through shows her strength and toleration of pain.
It can also signify identity such as religious or political roles and can be used to identify a member of a certain tribe.
This subject is visually and conceptually stimulating for me.
The patterns are etched onto the body in a very decorative manner. It's almost as though these are sculptures or ornate pieces of architecture.
It just goes to show how our own bodies can be a canvas and that we are willing to manipulate it to give ourselves identity.
New Print Making Project: Body Modification
Body Modification:
"The example of tattooing the body is one such ‘decoration’ as is the use of paints cosmetics, jewellery, headgear or clothing. This ‘decoration’ could also be described as ‘body modification’ but at the same time respects and sometimes contradicts the symmetries of the organic form. An order (the pattern) is superimposed on an existing order (the body) which either harmonises or confuses. (The girl = harmony; the boy = confusion.)"
I have always been fascinated by body modification across all cultures as the human form is a big aspect of my work. It is also a lot about identity and status which is a subject I am also interested in taking further.
The idea of harmonising or contradicting the symmetries of the organic form is something that I would love to explore through drawings and prints and I believe it would be something that would expand my own personal style as well as my knowledge of other cultures.
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