Creature sketches

Black Swan: Odile and Odette

The story of Swan Lake and the ill-fated princess Odette has fascinated me ever since childhood. The story is about a woman who is forced by and evil sorcerer to take the shape of a swan, lest any other man look upon her. For a few hours every night however, Odette becomes real and alive again. One night, Odette meets Prince Siegfried who vows to marry her and free her from the curse. The sorcerer becomes aware of the two lovers however, and tricks the prince into marrying Olide, Odette's wicked and sinister counterpart. It is the relationship between Odette and Odile that I wish to explore, focusing on their opposing personalities and the treacherous betrayal that leads to the tragic denouement.

"We're creatures of the Underworld, we can't afford to love..."

These works are part of an on-going series of drawings that I started last summer. The work explores the relationship between the animal kingdom and modern society, focusing on contemporary man's mutable conception of nature. With the deer, the idea is that a very gentle and harmless creature has, by the replacement of his legs with knives and blades, been simultaneously made dangerous, fearful, and yet incapacitated. A juxtaposition of sympathy and terror are explored whilst depicting a world in flux, a nature imploding and dissolving.