Work in progress for my current illustration commission for a novella called ‘The Unread Letter’. It has a Gothic Poe-ish feel to the prose and content.
Tag: fashion
Portfolio Reviewing 2, Salome look 4.
This is a fashion illustration for one of the garments I designed for Oscar Wilde’s 1894 play ‘Salome’.
This piece was designed for the moment Salome receives the baptists head, I conceived it as a symbolic joining of the two characters; (much of the play concerns Salome trying to seduce the baptist, and threatening him that she will eventuality have him despite his rejection of her). So here the baptists head has actually become part of Salome’s garment, and ultimately part of her.
Although I never got to make the final garment, (I actually made another look for the play) I toiled it extensively and it would have been a digital print on a lycra or power mesh then hand embellished.
Amusingly despite this being a illustration of a design for a garment, (it shows no nudity and the violence content is questionable) it got me temporary ban and a warning off facebook. I personally think somebody had a problem with the suggestion of menstrual blood.
“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all” Oscar Wilde
jx
Shooting the Moon.
After the fantastic news of my show extension, there was a slight panic, I had every intention of shooting the garments on a live model and furthering the narrative of the work with a short photo essay, but how to shoot garments currently on display in a exhibition?
I was really not keen on displacing the exhibition half way through even for a day, due to the complex nature of the display, so the only alternative was to shoot the garments toiles.
So for just under the last two weeks Ive been reconstructing the toiles, as most had been unpicked to make the final patterns for the finished garments, I also had to recreate the jewelry and styling (wigs etc) components as most were one offs.
As the toiles were missing much of the finished details of the finals (the screen printed pomegranates for instance), the real challenge here was trying to create the impression of the finished garment with showing too much detail giving the game away as it were.
So on Sunday we took to the moors and woods to bring the Moon to life.
Going for long shots and heavy editing post production, I’m working towards creating the feel of both the exhibition and underling narrative.
Here’s a image in progress, it reminds me of the ‘Rotoscoping’ work of Ralph Bakshi.
My lovely and incredibly patient model for the shoot, is named after the Norse Goddess Freya, who rather uncannily has a correspondence with the full moon….
jx
Show Extension
I have been invited by the University to extend the run of my micro show ‘The Buried Moon’.
It will now run into June.
I’m still reeling from the overwhelmingly positive response my show has garnered, Its makes all the late nights and fraught days worthwhile.
jx
tokyojo 