Imaging the Body with Text: Jenny Saville, Marking Transformations and Progressions in Modern Art

As an English and drawing student I've found a passion for and a fascination with the combination of text and image. The context and implications gained from adding text to art are limitless. As I've studied the body in my drawing classes, I've also started asking some deeper and more involved questions about body image in art. In preparation for my Honors thesis I looked for an artist that works with both text and the body in their repertoire and discovered Jenny Saville's artwork involving the female body and the expectations placed on it. For the research half of my project I am examining and writing on the influences of Jenny Saville's art. The second half of my project involves a journal record and a polyptic group of my own artwork. I've chosen to do a self-portrait for the project. I will be doing the art pieces on Mylar with charcoal, acrylic, and pen and ink as the mediums. Through drawing and writing I will show how modern art is defying socially set limits, pushing against sexual possession and expectations, and redefining the place and physical nature of the woman, with Jenny Saville as my example.