This next stone, I ended up taking home with me over easter. The main reference image is from a book my parents own on the history of Derbyshire. I remembered seeing it ages ago and thinking, this would make a great print. After hours of searching I managed to find it.
Whilst planning the image, I was trying to think about lots of things. At first, I was mainly thinking about a painting by Jean-Leon Gerome called Truth Coming Out of Her Well to Shame Mankind. The 'well' in my image is actually an old feeding trough but it had such a sinister feel in the picture that I needed to put something in it. At first, I toyed with the idea of having something clamber out or lots of arms reaching out. However, I also wanted to play into the idea of fake news, thats become so pervasive in society today. The point being that truth is maybe scarier and more horrifying than what we are comfortable letting out.
I played with this idea but in the end I decided to add a child sitting on the edge. I've come to think about my images more and more like they are freezeframes in play or film. The main characters are placed just so and I feel like I'm setting a scene to tell a story. However, I also rececntly realised that this is a story only I may be partial to. Of course, there's a certain thrill to being able to make someone uncomfortable just from my drawing, however, to me, theres a story behind each piece. If you look at everything I've drawn, it becomes like a diary. I also realised that I don't particularly care whether people can figure out what I think they mean (although I'm happy to explain). It would be nice to get some kind of feedback from someone to see what they can glean from my pieces. It might help me develop my visual language more.
Anyway, I added the child partially because it adds a bit of danger to the image. People would naturally want to protect it. If I think about it too hard my stomach drops a bit. I think its also there because since coming home for easter, I've had to spend more time looking after my little sisters, one of which is six. Theres always something in the back of mind thinking, what if this went wrong. It feels like theres always somehting out to get them. I can't help but be protective.
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