'Body & Form': 'Legion'

"I am Legion, for we are many."

- Mark 5:9

 



The idea for this was very much a simplistic stroke of inspiration from connecting two key phrases. When I began my first official workshop session for painting, I remember my tutor talking about "tracing" and "connecting". Something drove me to, more or less, do just that. With the help of several other students from college, I traced around different segments and parts of their bodies onto a number of A1 sheets of paper. I had no immediate design for the final form when I started. Rather, I traced for different pieces and then worked on how they could connect to one another. Eventually, this would lead to the development of a slightly refined design. I still wanted enough spontaneity to have taken charge of how the piece formed. When I felt I produced a sufficient number of sheets, I began rearranging them and deciding on which ones I used and rejected as well as which ones would be cut out, based on their outlines.

 

This was the final outline:

 

 

I had also considered a possibility to have the final presented piece coloured. I worked on at least three considered colour schemes (not presented here). The chaotic structure of Legion was to reflect on how, as individuals, we lead different lives, each of them shaped by different experiences which cause us to differ in how we view the world. If done correctly, a collective flow of colours could be used in effect to that idea. However, I felt unsure and considered the possibility that the colours could just as likely distract viewers from the actual form and structure of Legion. Colours can more likely correspond to ideas and thoughts more likely shared among people than experiences, hence I finally decided to let the colourless form amplify its vagueness.