FMP Blog 9: Opening up the World.
Returning briefly to my original research question, this project seeks to explore how illustration can evoke more empathy towards street dogs in Sri Lanka. The odds stacked against it ranged from a lack of legal support (i.e. little to no animal welfare laws), a perception that this was a problem for western foreigners to solve and all the baggage that comes with that, and a belief that the plight of non-human animals is removed and unrelated to the plight of humans, leading to the conflict of who we should help first.
My argument through this project proposes that, much like the United Nations’ cluster approach to national development, helping non-human animals is, ultimately, directly related to helping humans. As cheesy as it sounds, we are all connected. If we were to take the relationship between man and dog as an example, we could note the benefits we enjoy, particularly when it comes to our mental well being, but also in other aspects such as physical health, security and so on. Dogs were literally bred as companion animals for man. It is what separates the domesticated species from its wild cousins and ancestors. We were meant to be together.
My background in visual communication previously focused on graphic design and its application, specifically in the context of branding and advertising, so I would usually find myself leaning towards actionable, pragmatic design solutions. However, prioritising illustration has given me the opportunity to approach the project more intuitively, opening up avenues more attuned to spirituality, identity, belonging and empathy. This is not to say graphic design cannot be any of these things — it certainly can! This is just how my own practice has led me along this journey. In the last lap of this project, I am composing the final visuals of the book and using a new narrative tool through my illustration.
As much as I would rather not research the works of artists whose personal lives have caused others trauma, I came across the visuals above by chance. These prints were on display in a hotel lobby in Galle when I travelled there in January and its use of perspective interested me greatly. It demonstrated a widening of the world, revealing different stories unfolding simultaneously across a bustling local landscape. It also reminded me of the Mughal paintings that inspired Wettasinghe’s work, where “the principles of scientific perspective” were ignored in favour of a more isometric, multiple plane point of view (Victoria and Albert Museum 2023). While this trait of the ancient Mughal paintings is intrinsic to Asia, the prints above exemplify how it was also shared through the multiple planes seen in the artistic movements of the 20th century’s Modernist period. We are able to connect it to this era due to its stylistic treatment of colour and shape. A Google Lens search revealed the artist to be Donald Friend, and these images were only parts of a large mural painted at the Brief Gardens in 1957 (Banziger and Hulme, 2010).
While I find Friend to be morally reprehensible, his work that I came across by chance has definitely inspired a key narrative tool I will be using in my book. In discussion with my supervisor, the ‘opening up’ of the perspective as the Scout interacts further with Jungle the dog will visually represent how his world grows thanks to this new relationship. It will act as the application of illustration to demonstrate empathy.
Another artist who practices more contemporary application of this narrative tool is Rebecca Green, whose work I have followed closely throughout this MA programme. Her intimate Self Portrait (Figure 3) uses details facilitated by the use of perspective to juxtapose the artist and her tools with what would have been her greatest creation. The composition is a triumph in shape and texture, contrasting the angular artworks and art supplies with the rounded living beings in the image. The focal point lies in the middle of the image, expanded for emphasis, while the foreground takes up the lower ‘third’ and the background — a view through the window to the tree outside — in the topmost section.
As I compose the final roughs for my book, I will be experimenting with these observations.
References
BANZIGER, Brigitte and David HULME. 2010. ‘A slow and painful death for Donald Friend mural?’ Australian and New Zealand Art Sales Digest 12 November [online]. Available at: https://www.aasd.com.au/news/180-a-slow-and-painful-death-for-donald-friend-mural/ [accessed 23 March 2024].
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM. 2024. ‘The arts of the Mughal Empire’. Victoria and Albert Museum [online]. Available at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-arts-of-the-mughal-empire [accessed 23 March 2024].
List of Figures
Figure 1–2: Donald FRIEND. 1957. The Brief Mural. [mural, detail]. Galle: Landesi Villa. Lobby decoration January 2024. Photographs taken by Samantha Weerawardane 28 January 2024.
Figure 3: Rebecca GREEN. 2023. Self Portrait. Blog [online image]. Available at: https://www.myblankpaper.com/blog/2023/8/24/november-the-revel-is-in-the-details [accessed 24 March 2024].
