Hand

Hand, 2017

Hand, 2017

Hand, 2017

Hand, 2017

I have been interested in depicting hands in my work since I have been making art, I was particularly interested in how the hands are a way to portray a range of emotions; anger, fear, happiness. A few years ago the subject of hands became very evident within my work and it is only recently that I have revisited the hand within my work. One of the larger pieces that I have made this term has been the stitched hand, I have continued to work on this piece for the majority of the term, continuously adding details using thread and stitching. The piece is made from recycled material for the hand and stuffed nylon tights and leggings for the fingers. I have also been very aware of how I have displayed the hand, I have experimented with new ways to present this piece. I first displayed the hand in a critique in the gallery space on a plinth, however I was encouraged by my lecturer to display the hand within the suitcase I had been using to transport it. I decided against this, I thought that the plinth allowed the piece more visibility. During the critique I moved the hand onto the floor to take photographs, I felt that this way of displaying the piece was less successful than on the plinth.

I went on to display the hand in the suitcase within my studio space. I found that after adding more detail the fingers held themselves up on the floor and were more sturdy, this allowed me to pose the hand inside the suitcase and I thought this made it seem as though the hand was crawling out. I think that this was the most successful way of displaying the hand.