On A Roll...

carguably, with the odd disaster still creeping in... This is a variation of the original cave painting image, where I've used the software to allow me to draw on top of the manipulated photograph, and then used those additional lines to suggest the stitch lines. What I've produced, is a primitive, semi abstract man shape. If I could only see it as that, I'd be happy.

However, I also see it as a badly drawn man shape. When I was stitching it, I couldn't see the head as I originally envisaged it, which was quite a bit larger than the one in the image, and in a completely different position. I can see it now, of course, in the photograph, but at the time, I couldn't. So I stitched what I saw, and went with the flow, as I always do. The head seems to suggest that the body is facing one way, where the leg in the bottom left corner, suggests that the body is facing in another. Now that I've seen that, I can't unsee it.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to intention. My intention was to create a semi abstract, primitive man shape, and that's what I've produced. What's more, despite my own discomfort, I'm not going to change it to conform to the 'rules' of what a man shape should look like. In fact, the more I look at it, the more I warm to it. This is a 'man' who is ruled by his body, not his head. Who is, perhaps as a result of that, confused and unsure of where he's going. Tentative, hesitant, almost.

Like I said, I can't unsee the 'wrong' bit. But I can accept it for what it is, an expression, resulting from my process, which has taken me a bit of thinking to comprehend. This post is very much for me... but it's also for everyone who has worried that their intention will not be seen by the viewer. My suggestion is that you live with it, just as I'm doing. Ambiguity is good. Risk taking is good. Expression is good. Above all, you have to trust the process... at some level, you really do know what you're doing, and why. It might take a little time for the conscious you to catch up, but that's okay.

ps It's worth looking at the images enlarged, I think...just click on them. The first one is a detail shot, that shows some of the drawing I did, as well as some of the stitch.