We are putting pressures on these species due to overfishing, due to their formidable saw, many fishermen will kill these fish in the water to prevent potential injury. Their fins are considered one of the best varieties for the Chinese delicacy shark fin soup, which means these unique creatures are also subject to the barbaric practice of shark finning. Because of this, and having experienced these magnificent fish in the place which specifically handles conservation for their species, I felt like they would be well placed as a starting point for my experimentation.
I started out just sketching the forms of the sawfish, as their body shape really was unique for sharks. Besides the obvious saw-like protrusion, known as a rostrum, their lower face and front fins sit on a single flat plan, with the eyes raised ontop, not unlike the mouthparts of a ray. It was clear that general interest in these creatures was low however as when I then tried to find more dynamic poses of these fish online I began to realise there was actually very few images online images of them. In fact many appeared to be from the Deep itself.
So after getting familiar with the strange sawfish forms I tried to sketch a more interesting pose based on my new understanding of their bodies. To make it still feel believable and natural I chose an above angle. Although it meant I couldn't capture the interesting details on the fish' underside, it allowed me to more faithfully represent how a sawfish body could curve in this way. I tried not to rely too heavily on detail at this point as I knew I wanted everything to be in silhoutte.
Another problematic feature of the sawfish' rostrum is its propensity to get stuck in fishin nets, the complex teeth making escape impossible once tangled. So I thought including the geometric forms of a fishing net, as well as the fish which have brought both sawfish and net to the same place. Loosely I sketched the net at first, playing with and testing the forms, before working on two more concise studies.
I traced these elements onto induvidual layers of clear plastic first, then experimented with trial arrangements for a short while before deciding the image needed more structure.
I felt driven to introduce the human element, not only because for contextual reasons but also as a nod to the Barras & Plaetz collaboration which had been part of my inspiration, however I wanted to do so in a subtle way. I sketched a shape suggestive of the hull of a boat, added fish directly from my own photography and from below what could gave been a fishermans line, or an abstract flourish. This was where this method really came into its own as I was then able to arrange my pieces overtop of this and constantly consider what each element added and detracted from the piece. I also used the wipeable surface of the clear plastic to create a layer with light beam style bursts of lighter blue to suggest light filtering down through the water.
Now I had multiple layers I could start arranging. Working like this allowed me to rapidly test lots of arrangements with only subtle differences in a very short amount of time, and although I had initially intended for the sawfish to nestle to the left around where the line was being dropped from the boat, I quickly realised it actually looked best to the other side.I could also try placing the shark over and under the netting, and even quickly add in another layer overtop to make it appear half obscured. (see below left centre and right) In this way it was easiest to see that placing the net in the foreground created the best visual depth, and also linked to Hurvin Anderson's usage of grids in his own work to interrupt and seperate the viewer from the subject.
I was quite conscious of how much plastic sheeting I was using however, as there was one section I had not been able to use as it had become crumpled. Normally I try my best to work in non toxic biodegradable materials so wherever possible my works dont contribute to the ongoing crisis, so whenever I have to throw away waste I try to consider ways to minimise this. Following a potential idea I crumpled the sheet further, and then laid it overtop of my design. This really added another dimension to the piece, and changed it from what began as a suggestive ocean scene to something altogether more urgent and claustrophobic. The way the sheet wraps around the entire paper producing a plastic barrier between us and the work, making it suddenly feel smothering and suffocating. The sawfish which at first seemed obscured, almost given privacy by the fishing net now seems entrapped and restrained. The way the light reflected across the crumpled plastic also added to the underwater effect, glittering and seeming to undulate when turned and disturbed.At the end of this I was very pleased with the way the technique had worked, although of course this initial attempt had been quite tentative and safe, and felt excited to explore in more depth tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment