Earthworks

We set out create an image of a figure who looked very natural, was bound, and appeared to be in distress. This figure was to represent mother nature bound and dragged down by progress and urbanization. The idea of mother nature being the subject of the photo was influenced by the Native American past of the site where we shot. By the end of shooting our vision had morphed a into something slightly different but the idea and representation remained the same. We had intended to process the image to make the figure bound by vines or branches but after shooting the image that we got came out with our mother nature looking beat down and oppressed without much image processing. I think this was effective because the image is more raw and the emotion is more authentic.

Our historical reference is Donatello's statue of Mary Magdelene is the wilderness. We took inspiration from this piece when considering how we wanted to portray our mother nature. Donatello's Mary Magdelene is disheveled and clothed in hair. She appears grimy and a bit crazed. Drawing on these elements we made our figure disheveled by messing up her hair, and covering her with dirt and mud. She is dressed in a garment made of leaves because she in a way is the personification of nature.

We worked in group of four and each member served a different role. Despina was the model for the photograph. I created the garment. Glori shot the pictures. Leanna helped shoot and wrote up our earthwork proposal. We all worked to contribute ideas, feedback, and developed the concept together.