Sometimes the world can make us feel so small. We can get lost in the crowds, the traffic, and the 9 to 5, and we lose our sense of self. In this project I wanted to explore human occupancy of cities and how we are treated not like people or individuals but as a heard, sheparded by invisble hands. Escapism is a very present theme in this project, during interviews I conducted with the public, people spoke about their constant desire to find nature and get away from the harsh confines of London. But to be able to ‘Get away’ is a privilege, it’s not affordable for many and thus they are trapped. This is what i’m exploring here. The figure is removed from the mass in the painting and put into simulations of nature but they remain very much contained within the obelisks. Windows are carved into the structures to give the idea of care for those within, but these are a farse like the plastic grass and painted-on sky. The structures them selves are indicative of bland highrises, using similar textural techniques to projects like the Barbican. Although these sculptures are drawing from high rises there is only one floor, this is to further show that there is only one individual present, they are truely isolated, whether this building was designed for only one person or they are just only percieving one floor of it is up to you. The painting’s crowd is made up of an overbrushed black mass and pastel movements. This acts to uniform the individuals, being lost in their movement and environment. One figure is drawn out, a silhouette made of the same grass as the sculptures to show their escape, mental or physical. The buildings around them transition from pink through burgandy to black, with their borders being drawn through much like the pastel of the crowd moving through them.
When I was young I thought it was cool that the BT tower spun, but now I think it just makes us dizzy.
Sometimes the world can make us feel so small. We get lost in the crowds, the traffic, and 9-to-5. We lose our sense of self. Here I explore human occupancy of cities and how we are treated not like people or individuals but as a heard, sheparded by invisble hands.