During my recent visit to London i went to the cartoon museum which was a hidden gem! The main exhibition was a Ralph Steadman retrospective which featured over 100 of his works as well as a really compelling documentary about his way of working. I love Steadman and admittedly,got a bit distracted in the research stage. Some of my favorite pieces are his illustrations for ' Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' by Hunter S. Thompson. If you haven't read the book, i implore you to!
'Steadman sees through the glass very darkly' Hunter s. Thompson
Steadman frequently uses satire to highlight social issues, mainly about politics.Motivated by this i wanted to create a character that mocks the ridiculous ' beauty standard' that our culture has set for modern women. To be socially 'accepted' as 'beautiful' magazines, advertisements, films etc constantly reinforce that we need to be white, young, hairless,wear make-up, and be skinny but with large breasts. What emerged after sketching a few ideas was a barbie doll like figure, which i suppose incorporates all the attributes of a social acceptable woman.
I really liked the idea of the character having no arms as it makes her look even more passive and vulnerable but i didn't think it would be very practical. So i decided that she would be able to remove her arms at will, which i think is great because now she is simultaneously vulnerable and aggressive.
