When I had a chance sighting of a forming dragonfly, I used
photography as the first of many mediums from this subject, capturing the
dragonfly at exactly the right angle with just enough contrast and focus. Carefully
taking these photographs allowed me to expand into computer editing my images
then expanding these ideas further into various mediums such as acrylic and Biro.
These particular images lead me to research into how nature
influenced some of the most structural artists of the 20th century.
Furthermore allowing me to see the construction behind something so delicate,
looking at the path of Mondrian from sketches of trees to his later geometrical
De Stijl works, to emphasise the structural aspects of my work. I have also
looked at the Futurist artist Balla as he showed the movement of mechanical
objects through his paintings. Blurring the lines between natural and
mechanical, I subsequently used the Futurist technique of capturing movement to
show the delicate movement of a dragonfly’s wings in this structural way.
I continued to explore this concept of natural and
mechanical through the rest of my personal study. Many of the structural
artists of the 20th Century had very geometric and bold outcomes of
their work. However, it is where these works originated from that intrigued me,
as many looked to such forms of nature as trees and plant life instead of more
structural influences. I have explored this connection through my work, looking
at how these artists progressed and where all of their influences finally led
them. I have also pushed the mix of nature and structure further, taking the
work of structural artists and enhancing both the natural and structural
aspects within to create my own work in an influenced style. This helped show
the thought patterns behind the pieces as well as the polished lines of the end
result. I also developed my view of artists using nature as their subjects
directly such as Tobey and the abstract expressionists, and Franz Mark with
animals, to see how they abstracted their work to only give an impression of
nature. Through my personal study, I have successfully improved my
understanding of the development every artist has to go through to achieve a
unique style and a timeless piece of art.
