Step 1: Choose Sculpture
Mary Magdalen from the Mourning over the dead Christ
Step 2: Writing Assignment
For Project 4, I have chosen the sculpture, Mary Magdalen from the Mourning over the dead Christ. It is a free standing terracotta statue of Mary Magdalene in the mid-run, with her clothing and fabrics flowing behind her. Her exaggerated facial expression and sprawled pose portrays immense grief and mourning as she is wailing and running towards the dead Jesus Christ. This sculpture belongs in the context of 6 other figures lamenting around the dead Jesus Christ. This sculpture is associated with traditional greek sculpture with dramatic draped fabric and clothing which adds to the intense motion of the scene. The story of the scene is a powerful and memorable moment in Christianity as Mary Magdalene was mourning over the assumption that Jesus’ body had been stolen, but instead it became a moment of faith that Jesus will rise again and the importance of having faith.
I plan to distort this sculpture by exaggerating the already expressive motions of Mary Magdalene by creating more waves and movement in the fabric of her clothing. Similar to how Wim Delvoye twisted and spun the characters in his sculpture to exaggerate their circular movements, I hope to emulate a similar effect of warping and moving the fabric to amplify the exaggerated and intense movement and grief of Mary. Moreover, I am planning to explore and illustrate the context of the statue and Mary’s realization that Christ has risen by morphing the current statue from looking down at the body, to looking up with faith, as she believes that Christ has risen. This would extend the statue’s context from displaying one moment in time to illustrating Mary’s realization and faith over time.
Step 3: Sketches
