Throughout my sustained investigation, I wanted to explore the correlation between fear and form expressed through the idea of the figurative dancer. My concept was to use different mediums, techniques, and color to exhibit mood, mainly the discomforts of the body and mind. I believed that the expectations of achieving perfection through dance serves as a juxtaposition to negative emotions, such as being nervous, fearful, threatened, angry, frustrated, depressed, uncomfortable, and confused. 

In images 1 to 3, I explored the literal figure of a dancer through drawing and collaging. I used the color black, objects, and placement as context to reference the feelings of fear. For example, the red veins in image 1 depicts the phobia of blood; the patterns and circular shapes in image 2 symbolized claustrophobia; and the celestial objects and phenomenons (the earth, the lunar cycle, the lightning) alluded to a fear of the unknown. More specifically in my concentration, I examined the use of the color black as contrast in images 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8. I wanted to exhibit the idea of darkness creeping into our minds when we are most vulnerable, i.e. in times of fear. For example in image 1, I used strips of black paper at the top and bottom of the piece where the dancer’s feet are. This artistic choice was to assimilate the visuals of an x-ray and symbolize dancers’ fear of injury, an idea that I revisit in image 8. 

I started to experiment with the abstraction of form and concepts in images 4 and 5. I used a monochromatic green tone in image 4 to depict the repetition in life. The layer of plantation symbolizes a feeling of clutter, stress, and anxiety. In image 5, I used positive and negative space to explicate the feeling of isolation and helplessness. I also wanted to explore with the use of multiple forms through the use of multiple dancer figures.

I wanted to manipulate form through deconstruction. I practiced collaging different images of dancers to create a new form. Starting with a literal figure in image 6 and 7, but revised to incorporate more abstract forms (image 9, 10, 11) because I thought that the vague forms I created paralleled the vagueness of human feeling and emotion. I wanted to further explore deconstruction in the context of the human body. In Image 8, I used severed body parts to capitalize the feeling of a ghost limb after amputation as one of the greatest fears as a dancer is having an injury. This concept was also represented in image 13, where I wanted the sketches of different hands to symbolize the feeling of touch, and how that related to the discomforts of sexual violation. I wanted to comment on the idea that oftentimes, dancers are viewed as perfect forms that many people idolize and sexualize. And while feelings of admiration are appreciated, at times they can also bring people discomfort.

To push the boundaries of my sustained investigation concepts, I inquired how to use actual materials to exemplify the dancer. I experimented with using my old pointe shoes as an expression of my own identity as a dancer in images 12 to 15. The pointe shoe is an integral part of a dancer’s uniform. I wanted to use it as inherent design elements for my final pieces. I wanted the object to be related to the negative emotion a dancer was experiencing in a certain environment. In image 12, the mobile alluded to the feeling of dizziness after practicing turns. Images 14 and 15 revised the idea of actual deconstruction in the physical space as I took apart the pointe shoe to give it a visual effect.