For my second project in Drawing + Imaging, I looked at different ethnographic groups – specifically their clothes, masks, jewellery and costumes, and the specific purposes they serve in their cultural traditions, festivals and living conditions. As a part of my research, I visited the American Museum of Natural History and looked at the African and Asian Exhibits that displayed different traditional and tribal forms of clothing from different eras. Below are a few of the sketches and notes I made while in the museum:
I was particularly drawn to the theatrical costumes and make up in the Asian exhibits, particularly those from India and China because I noticed a lot of similarities in the way the make up is done – with bright colours and symmetrical designs using curved lines. Inspired by this, I made a sketch combining aspects of theatrical make up and headdresses from both India and China to create a fusion between the two cultures. Below is the image of this sketch:
For my final project, I will be portraying the Rohingya Muslims – a group of stateless refugees from Rakhine State, Myanmar – and try to convey the chaos of their dishevelled lives. While studying images of the refugees to research their settings, clothings and social group, I noted that many of them wore clothes that were covered in dust or faded out into a dull purple colour, so I decided to use dull purple and earthy tones as my colour palette for the piece. Below are a few thumbnails I made to explore different compositions:
Since they are a stateless group, I chose to move forward with the second composition as I wanted to depict them in movement, looking for their next temporary “home”. Through my scratchy line-work, I intended to convey the rough and messy nature of the lives they are currently enduring. In the background, I chose to display symbols of the flags and religion they are associated with, while also maintaining the striped design of the Myanmar flag. The background is overlaid with real images of the refugees – both in refugee camps and on the move. The images have been distorted and have gaps in them to represent the way parts of their lives have been ripped from them due to the political situation in Myanmar. Below is my final image:
