The image to the left; entitled, “Propped- 1992”, by Jenny Saville, pictures a distorted human form sitting awkwardly on a dark object. The composition is primarily organic as Saville emphasises the round natural form of the human body in the background, as well as the messy writing in the foreground, layered over the image of the woman.
The form of the woman may be interpreted as, “vulgar” and “distorted” by some due to the way in which the artist has not followed the basic rule of perspective involved in drawing the human form: as is highlighted by the different scale of the hands and thighs in proportion to the torso of the woman. Furthermore, Saville draws the veins accurately on the legs and has used varying tones of orange and pinks on the figures body, as well as not including hair in her image in order to stress the imperfection of her body, which contributes further to the repulsion of Saville’s work. Lastly, the work is fairly balanced as the figure is propped on the image in the centre of the image which further adds emphasis to the significance of the woman’s appearance.
I believe that Jenny Saville is trying to convey the innocence of the woman in her work due to the following characteristics of the image which I will eventually discuss in greater detail
- The woman is naked (other than shoes)
- The woman is bald (hairless in general)
- She is being propped, (hence the title of the work)
- Writing is scribbled over the foreground
- Body language of the woman suggests she is body conscious
- The expression of her face implies that she is distraught or ‘weak’ to an extent
Due to the aspects above, I believe the intention of the artist: Saville is to convey the vulnerability of the woman to the outside world. In her work, Saville uses the shoes s a symbol of the woman’s walk throughout life, in which she travels naked and hairless; symbolic of not only her bare flesh, but also her raw emotional state. Another key aspect of, “Propped”, is the fact that the figure is literally, ‘propped’, on a black pole. Saville uses the black pole also as a symbol of the vulnerability of the woman’s body and weak state being exposed or presented to the public as if she were a monstrous animal in a dusty museum cabinet; being criticized by spectators passing-by. Furthermore, the messy writing in the foreground epitomizes the criticism the woman encounters on a day-to-day basis due to her ghastly appearance; which leaves a ‘physical imprint’ on both her body (in Saville’s work) and on her confidence, as a scar or a tattoo would. Saville overtly suggests the extent of the negative emotional and physical impact of others judgement and hatred of her, by manipulating the expression on the woman’s face to appear weakened and distraught, which emphasises the struggle between her confidence and societies strict stereotypical ideals of beauty which has an ongoing impact on her life. Saville also draws the hands scratching the skin on her thighs and intentionally in a different proportion to the rest of her body in order to represent the woman’s struggle emotionally with her own perception of herself.
Whilst Saville; in her work: “Propped”, portrays the female form negatively, she does so not with the intention of exposing the human form as ‘ugly’ or ‘innappropriate’, but with the purpose of making her audience consider their perspective on ‘true beauty’ and evaluate their judgement of and impact on others.
