Isabella Kiggell
My painting is inspired by Dancing mutants (1965) by Hernando R Ocampo. Ocampo (1911-1978) was a Filipino national Artist who specialises in visual arts. He was also known to be a fictionist, a playwright and editor. Ocampo did many things. He was a member of the Saturday group and the ore war thirteen moderns. As well as this, Ocampo was known for his collaboration with neo-realists Vincente S. Mana salsa and Cesar Legaspi. His work was known to reflect the brutal effects of WWII on his country. However, he did often make pieces of calming Philippine landscapes using lush and bold colours.
This painting in particular caught my interests due to the fact that it depicts a truly large meaning though using limited a limited range of colours and shapes. It astonishes me how so much can be said with so little that meets the eye. But I think the most special thing about this art piece is how much he cared for the damage and destruction that occurred over the 6 long years. In the piece, he uses strictly complimentary colours. As well as this, he also uses the colour green to depict the burning body’s of the innocent people in Tokyo. To respond to this, I have used a similar seaweed like motif using stencils rising from the bottom and curling in from the sides of the boar as if grasping the piece. I also choose a darker colour to represent the burnt remains of the people. These can also be found within lighter blue six sided shapes on the left side. As well as this I have used the number six in a bold green to represent the six sided shapes used in the original piece.
I have chosen green as it is a complimentary colour to the original colour used- red. Along with these shapes and numbers, I have used a different stencil to create another motif in the shape of a bomb on the right side of the canvas. These has been created using a verity of purple tones that symbolise damage and shrivelled land against the yellow background. I believe this really stands out because they are complimentary colours. Within the yellow background I have put long strips of muted and more neutral yellows to add on extra imagery of the suffering as if to be in hell the Japanese went through in this sense being represented by bars to create the meaning of prison bars.
Moving in to the middle section of the piece I have stamped varying purple squares in the shape of a circle to symbolise the Japanese flag and have coated it in two red gradient strips of fives to depict the five square miles damaged in the bombing. These have been painted in red to highlight the lives lost and blood spilt from the bombing.
Next talking about the left section of the piece. On this section I have focused on using greener and more lively colours to show the healing and regrowth of Japan and have stamped six sided shapes with similar seaweed like features as the left side to illustrate the remembered and resting souls of the fallen. On this side I have also put the date 7.9.1997 repeating three times (in honour of my three brothers who were all born in Japan) to represent a personal link as that is the day my dad proposed to my mum. All together, I believe my piece conveys the pain and gradual recovery of Japan after its painful loss between the two sides of the piece.