Working on sketchbook I decided to sketch the notions of
corruption and greed as part of my exploration of the imbalance of fortune
(both monetary and in life) on the social class structure.
I began with a quick sketch of four men facing away, their
hands crossed behind each other’s backs, all exchanging and swapping various
notes and bills. This becomes an image for corruption and the embezzling of
funds. These are the people at the top of the societal structure and their
dealings rarely, if never, aid the workingman. I thought back to my
‘pinching/grabbing hand’ paper manipulation design. The image of the four men
accompanies this stand-work as both focus on the hand grabbing or snatching
something from something or somebody else.
I sketched the face of an obese man wearing a tuxedo jacket
and bow tie. I wanted the sketch to feel like the embodiment of greed and
wealth; the rich man is fat with luck, fortune and riches whilst the poor man
suffers with little. I do not intend for this to be an image for the obesity
epidemic- as this does affect in fact the lower and poorer echelons of society-
rather a simplistic and symbolic image of fatness relating to wealth and power
rather than physical weight. I like the idea of the fat pockets of the rich man
being translated into design as well as the use of quilting to allude to the
flabby fat rolls of power of the rich uppers.
I believe a successful overall page was created when I contrasted this with collage and sketch-work of a lady and child living in poverty. I love the grey tones of my pencil work on the page. I referenced the large cylinders in the background of the photographic image I had found in ink sketching. I loved the contrast between the fragility of her draped clothing and the concrete rigidity of her surrounding.
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