Brain Food #728
Beneath the body
Thoughts of the day
In an occurrence of synchronicity, only a few days after sharing de Kooning’s painting of Woman, I, I happened to come across an exhibition by Jenny Saville, a British painter who often cites de Kooning as an inspiration, and who expresses her fascination with the human flesh and the female body in powerful portraits and nudes.
Most works on display were Saville’s drawings, which are often messy smudges, capturing the female presence in its complete imperfection and constant state of transition, while juxtaposing the way the body was depicted by the Renaissance masters: still, sculpted, ideal.
Ultimately, no matter what body we are given, we change. Saville’s drawings, lines on top of lines, layers on top of layers, depict the beauty and multiplicity of human nature itself. We are quick to judge by appearances. Beneath everyone’s surface, there is so much more at play, and so much more to be explored.
“I wanted the eye to unconsciously slip from one form to another. I’ve been trying to find ways to stretch a feeling of time by layering realities. After working on an image for a while, building up different poses, bodies or limbs start to intertwine and unexpected forms emerge.”
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