graphite, charcoal, acrylic, BFK, copy paper, vellum bristol, scotch & masking tape, 10 x 7"
For those of you know me well, I am a big admirer of M.I.A. I remember taking one listen to Arular and finding myself hooked instantly, for reasons I couldn't explain. There was something fun about her electronically-stitched music and boastful, politically charged lyrics.
Kala was a good stepping stone, and got her a hit single. But her third album, /\/\ /\ Y /\, was what I was waiting for from her along.
Finally, I felt like the music matched her voice. It's choppy, it's brash, but damn if it doesn't get stuck in your head and make you dance (great beats!). It also gave her a chance to show off more of her vocal abilities, which aren't terribly impressive, but she chose her moments and range well. One of my favorite albums from the latter half of 2010.
So here is my small tribute to her. I have drawn her a few times in my sketchbook, but they never quite captured her or her music, and I figured out that one image alone wasn't enough sum up this artist or her music.
I just kind of dove into a piece, having a vague idea of what I was going to do. A collage of drawings, with all the rough edges of paper & tape holding them together, seemed like a fitting way to capture her. It was a messy process, but incredibly fun and refreshing - I'm really going to have to explore this method in greater depth.
After a few days I had a real frankenstein on my hands (two heads, 5 arms, 2 1/2 legs), so I decided to call it quits and do some editing/coloring. Overall, a good experiment to shake things up, have some fun to begin 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment