Julian Farrar
Email: julian@julianfarrar.com
Thoughts Made Flesh
Thoughts Made Flesh is a series of large scale drawings each depicting the human form ‘embodying’ a thought or state of mind.Painstakingly crafted, each drawing stands at a staggering 2.5 meters high. The drawings feature me, the artist, and are made using a combination of photography and real life study. Whether cowering in the shadows or staring directly out at the viewer each form is coaxed from the darkness using a traditional combination of pencil and rubber. Standing tall like institutional pillars they collectively represent the captivity we suffer through thinking.
'Made Flesh No.3' is featured at www.artkudos.com as part of their year long exhibtion 2009.
A film of my studio and the drawings can be seen at www.vimeo.com/6977354
made flesh no.3
1.5 x 2.5 meters
pencil on paper.
The fact that I use myself in each of these pieces is very important. If each drawing literally embodies the inner sanctum of my head then they stand as a mirror in which I look back at myself. I may not like what I see but their unashamed honesty can’t be ignored. They demand not to be. The abstraction of form turns the human figure into something often unrecognisable. The undulating flesh, in all its perfect observation, becomes landscape on which we are free to wander and explore without the constraints of familiarity. Like stepping outside of yourself and seeing your thoughts objectively, seeing them for what they are and choosing whether to recognise them and thus allow them to dominate or not.
1.5 x 2.5 meters
pencil on paper.
The fact that I use myself in each of these pieces is very important. If each drawing literally embodies the inner sanctum of my head then they stand as a mirror in which I look back at myself. I may not like what I see but their unashamed honesty can’t be ignored. They demand not to be. The abstraction of form turns the human figure into something often unrecognisable. The undulating flesh, in all its perfect observation, becomes landscape on which we are free to wander and explore without the constraints of familiarity. Like stepping outside of yourself and seeing your thoughts objectively, seeing them for what they are and choosing whether to recognise them and thus allow them to dominate or not.