Gregor's Room


Gregor's Room
A visual response to the short story The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.
Printer paper, India Inks
7.5" x 8" x 5"

Artist's Statement: This collection of small-scale sculptures represents my interpretation of the short story The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. While reading the story I visualized Gregor's room as a bright cheery space at first. He took pride in his personal appearance and the comfortable life he was able to provide for his family. I illustrated this by giving him simple wooden furniture and bright bedding. As the story continues, Gregor regresses. His room becomes dark and covered in rot. I chose to illustrate this through my representation of Gregor himself. He is shown, in this piece, as a pile of green mush under the bed with red spheres stuck in it. This is meant to show how Gregor deteriorates and becomes more and more insect-like in his mindset. The red spheres represent the apple that his sister threw at him that stuck in his back and slowly rotted. This is to show how his relationship with his family also rots and turns sour throughout the story. He is hidden under the bed to illustrate Kafka's ideas of how there is always something rotten lurking in all of us, just below the bright exterior. 





In-process photos










 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dinner and a Movie

Image
  Opposites Attract Book, Metal Silverware, Plastic Silverware, Teacup, and Paper Plate with Guash Inspired by Pride and Prejudice (2005) Artist's Statement: This image explores the role of class differences between two romantic partners. It achieves this by contrasting items typically thought of as "high" or "low" class. For example, the use of real, metal silverware and plastic, disposable silverware. The teacup and the arrangement of objects in a formal place setting are also symbols of wealth. It also comments on the desire to appear more high class as a means to fit in. This is shown through the handpainted design on the paper plate, which mimics expensive china patterns. The book that's used as a placemat is a wood carving guide. Carpentry and wood carving have typically been thought of as working-class jobs.  However, throughout most of history, reading was a skill that was reserved only for the rich. This, again, illustrates the juxtaposition between...
Read more

Touch Response

Image
  Growing New Life Acrylic on paper 3" x 5" "Think about growing other organs or at least parts of them - eyes, ears, hearts - in a farm whose fields are pans and whose silos are test tubes." - Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses, p. 70 Statement: This quote is from a section of the book explaining how skin grafts are grown. When I thought about other organs being grown I pictured hearts growing on strawberry plants.  " I was Here" Embroidery 8" x 8" "What a marvel to see so many lives at full stretch, defined by needles and ink, so many people who wished to become their own text." - Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses, p. 100 Statement:  This piece is meant to represent people's innate desire to leave their mark on the world. We leave pieces of ourselves everywhere, in our houses, with our friends, even on our skin. We all want to be remembered, even if only by a few people, so we do what we can to touch the...
Read more