This is another post in which I focus my attention on the combination of Art and Fashion. Within this particular project, are probably some of the best pieces of work I have ever created, even though the challenges of self portraiture made it tricky to sometimes even take a picture, let alone a good one, I have developed my artistic skills in terms of picture making and Photoshopping and been able to express myself in a way I have not done before. I have never used self portraiture in this way before however the context behind this body of work is something I hold very dear to my heart.
The subject is Alice in Wonderland! I have always admired the vibrancy and the sense of distortion in this classic tale. There have been so many retellings and versions portrayed by different artists, film makers and photographers that I decided to have another go at telling my own story! Yes /another/ go! I have previously done a unit of my GCSE art course and a unit for my first year of A-level photography based on this topic. And once we had completed a film still case study for this term, my mind sprung in to action and leapt at the opportunity to go back down my rabbit hole!
I began this project with experimenting with shots on location, taking the literal sense of Wonderland and painting a surreal landscape, which came in the form of altering the colour saturation to an alarming rate as seen in the above picture. Stereotypically I chose a blue dress to best represent the character I was portraying. However I decided to add my own personal touch and style to portray the fact I was showing the depiction of my own Wonderland throughout the body of work and that Alice is more independent and grown up in this particular story. To finish off the foot wear I threw in some striped knee high socks! The main colour? Of course…BLUE! As for my hair, as it is still in growth, it looked much better to have it up. Funnily enough I wear it in this fashion a lot more because of it, and it also supports the notion that Alice is still a vulnerable and innocent character.
I soon moved on to the concept I carried on with throughout the rest of the project. I may still perhaps create more work when I return to university for before the deadline, however here are some examples of the work I have been creating over the past few months, that include the colour connotations and role signifiers to tie in the work with the Alice theme. I wanted to create a project where I place myself in my own Wonderland, so I was constantly thinking of scenarios that best depict my own world. I came to the conclusion that what best represented me was art and photography, so I formed the idea which I call ‘Alice Through the Picture Frame’ rather than Through the Looking Glass!
I also wanted to include some shoots where I wore a different outfit to bring in the element of character development, inspired by Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Also after further development of my work it gave me the opportunity to try out different Photoshopping techniques that I have presented above. The other outfit I chose was a dress with a red plad skirt and a lace top half. The colour connotation was to show several ideas, such as matching my hair as a really basic link but further more to portray the idea of danger.
This particular shot was to create the idea of confusion where the Alice in blue looks in to her reflection and sees a future Alice staring back at her in disbelief, Red Alice realises she is viewing herself before she entered the crazy land!
To finish off this post here are some of my other favourite pictures from the body of images I have created, I hope you like these pictures and the portrayal of my own Wonderland! If you have any questions regarding the project do not hesitate to ask! So what makes up your own Wonderland? Make sure to leave a comment!
