Sculpture Assignment 2: "Thank you!"

 


    
        In this sculpture, I chose to show the reality of male depression and mental illness in society. Especially in the past, men have been asked to "silence" their struggles and "take it like a man". I sculpted a thin male (not the 'typical beauty standard' in America) and put a 'thank you' shopping back over his head to illustrate how their emotions are covered up to make others more comfortable. Men are always expected to be the "stronger sex", even now, and must suppress their big feelings. The shopping bag acts as the man's response to society's expectation to shut up and take it. He says "okay I will try, thank you for the suggestion!" 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Touch Assignment 1 "Smoother Flesh"

Image
"Smoother Flesh" Acrylic on canvas  8"x10" "Women tend to be smoother-fleshed than men, so it makes sense that we would shave our legs and apply lotions to accentuate the gender difference." ( Natural History of The Senses,  Ackerman, page 87) For this piece, I used acrylic paint on an 8x10 canvas to create a visualization of what women (or those who do not identify/ those who feel as though they have to shave) are expected to look like because of what society has set for the beauty standard. A woman stands next to a man completely covered in shaving cream, as the beauty standard typically demands a woman to be hairless from the nose down. A man stands beside her, preparing to shave only his face. At puberty, we are expected to begin shaving our legs and armpits. Many choose to shave because they like the way it feels, but when someone is shamed for not  shaving, this is when an issue arises. Men experience body hair shaming as well. For instance, if a man...
Read more

Sculpture Assignment 1: Anxiety

Image
  In Progress: Originally "Child Obesity"     In this piece, I chose to sculpt what Anxiety can feel like. It is not exactly a representation of anxiety, but as I have been struggling with this kind of stress recently, it only felt right to sculpt how it feels within. I chose to wrap a little piece of fabric around the throat to show the little character choking and grasping for release. There are four different kinds of pills in his tummy and two behind him stuck on toothpicks. This shows how desperate and reliant our society is on suppressing these feelings with medication and how they can build up and build up, always a new "solution" in the distance (the toothpicks behind the character). I chose a thin, square wooden base with age lines that radiate towards the figure, almost like he is being swept away or perhaps they are radiating away from him like the noise of screams. 
Read more

"Gregor's Room"

Image
  In Progress:      While reading The Metamorphosis  by Franz Kafka, I imagined the character Gregor to be a small, delicate Ladybug. Everyone around him treats him horrifically (understandably), and because of this, he is made to feel small, worthless, and a burden. I created his bed in a way that would allow it to engulf Gregor and sink in towards the middle, almost like his safe space in the hectic situation he finds himself in. I gave him a small pillow that mimics the lady bug pattern but the colors are inverted, so the pillow itself is black and the dots are white. While it mimics a lady bug's pattern, it also creates a cohesiveness with the bed and Gregor. For my other objects, I create a black rug made of crinkled paper, a small writing table, and a small chair. Not pictured was a small lamp. 
Read more