SR 1: Fat Venus Torso
For this project, I wanted to do something related to what we learned in AP Art History. At the time, we were discussing Greek and Roman art and the idea of how beauty and “idealism” differed from period to period. While verism, making the subjects old and wrinkly to look wise, was popular during the Republican Roman era, a youthful stronger look was popular during the Roman Empire, and a mathematically proportionate full-figured body was more “ideal” in Athena, Greece. My inspiration for the bikini torso came mostly from the Venus de Milo from ancient Greece, as I wanted to create a iconic statue that everyone knew but give it a twist, making it either very thin or very fat. I ended up going with making it fatter as I thought it could also act as a message against today’s beauty standards (being perfect and skinny is not always the most beautiful). While looking for inspiration, I came across Botero’s paintings of fat figures that placed fat figures in funny everyday situations. Inspired by that, I decided to paint a bikini on my pot to make it a bit lighter (in topic, definitely not in terms of weight as my pot is very heavy) and keep it a bit humorous.
Some things that I would consider when making my pot again is to keep the walls a bit thinner. The wall’s thickness became a problem as the base of the pot had a hard time withstanding the weight of the rest of the pot while it was drying. Making the pot thinner (and a bit smaller) might have also helped minimize the cracks that developed after firing the pot for a 2nd time. Overall, I really like how my pot turned out though. The pop of the under glaze bikini colors give a good contrast from the porcelain colored skin, and the cracks don’t look too bad with the pot (I might be able to pull it off as it being intentional).
Some things that I would consider when making my pot again is to keep the walls a bit thinner. The wall’s thickness became a problem as the base of the pot had a hard time withstanding the weight of the rest of the pot while it was drying. Making the pot thinner (and a bit smaller) might have also helped minimize the cracks that developed after firing the pot for a 2nd time. Overall, I really like how my pot turned out though. The pop of the under glaze bikini colors give a good contrast from the porcelain colored skin, and the cracks don’t look too bad with the pot (I might be able to pull it off as it being intentional).