“The Mall” 22 × 16 inches, Crayon on paper
This is a handmade, original work of art NOT A PRINT and NOT AI GENERATED
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks This ships from San Carlos, California (The San Francisco Bay Area). I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This drawing is of me shopping at the mall. I'm looking at the mannequins and their clothes, knowing that my body was never meant to fit into those clothes. I suspect most people's bodies don't fit that ideal either. It's a kind of “measure up” moment, with some of the same anxiety I was expressing in my tailor drawing.
Shopping also involves another kind of measuring up. What we buy, where we shop, and what we can afford can become ways of defining ourselves in this culture. Clothes promise a version of who we might be, but both our bodies and our money affect how we fit into that picture. I'm interested in how an ordinary shopping trip can bring those comparisons to the surface.
When I was planning this composition, I was thinking about cropping and using the rule of thirds to activate the picture. I stand off to the right rather than in the middle, with my back toward the viewer. Across from me are the dressed mannequins. That arrangement lets the viewer look into the store along with me rather than read an expression on my face.
The drawing leaves a lot open. Contour lines describe the clothing and bodies, while quick patches of shading give them some weight. The storefront's repeated rectangles and the bands across the floor provide a more rigid framework. My figure meets the lower edge of the drawn composition instead of floating in the middle of the sheet.
The full-sheet photographs show the deckled edges and the placement of the composition on the paper. The black felt visible in one photograph is a backdrop, not part of the artwork.
“The Mall” 22 × 16 inches, Crayon on paper
This is a handmade, original work of art NOT A PRINT and NOT AI GENERATED
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks This ships from San Carlos, California (The San Francisco Bay Area). I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This drawing is of me shopping at the mall. I'm looking at the mannequins and their clothes, knowing that my body was never meant to fit into those clothes. I suspect most people's bodies don't fit that ideal either. It's a kind of “measure up” moment, with some of the same anxiety I was expressing in my tailor drawing.
Shopping also involves another kind of measuring up. What we buy, where we shop, and what we can afford can become ways of defining ourselves in this culture. Clothes promise a version of who we might be, but both our bodies and our money affect how we fit into that picture. I'm interested in how an ordinary shopping trip can bring those comparisons to the surface.
When I was planning this composition, I was thinking about cropping and using the rule of thirds to activate the picture. I stand off to the right rather than in the middle, with my back toward the viewer. Across from me are the dressed mannequins. That arrangement lets the viewer look into the store along with me rather than read an expression on my face.
The drawing leaves a lot open. Contour lines describe the clothing and bodies, while quick patches of shading give them some weight. The storefront's repeated rectangles and the bands across the floor provide a more rigid framework. My figure meets the lower edge of the drawn composition instead of floating in the middle of the sheet.
The full-sheet photographs show the deckled edges and the placement of the composition on the paper. The black felt visible in one photograph is a backdrop, not part of the artwork.
