This project deals with the concept of complexity of human nature and the coexistence of conflicting aspects within a person. How humans have the potential for being capable of great good as well as great evil, while at the same time not being able to be completely good or completely evil since we all have faults and a conscience. This could even be seen in the variety of structures that make up the human body. How the human body is made up of both rigid as well as flexible, hard as well as soft parts, that coexist and function together to make up a cohesive whole.
Thus, I wanted to capture this complexity and the potential found in human nature, through the construction of a mixed media sculpture/installation. I visualised this sense of contrasting aspects found within a person by constructing a torso made up of contrasting materials and textures. The use of light is to show how the nature of this sculpture has the potential to be transformed into a different nature. By lighting up the sculpture from the inside with different coloured LEDs that project a colourful array of light gives it a livelier and perhaps positive atmosphere. And to show how this same sculpture could also take on a more sinister look, a spotlight placed below the sculpture casts a large, distorted shadow silhouette. Lastly, the torso is set to an ambiguous posture thus making it unclear to see whether the action it’s performing is innocent, mundane or malevolent.
