Robert WK Clark Art Collections

Mud Series

The mud series document parts of the female body immersed in mud. The lightning and colors differ in a manner that interprets the subject's figure rather than simply a photograph. The idea is created, through the distortion of the line between female body elegance and shape and muddiness and dirt, that the two elements of beauty and primitiveness are one. Photographically, the interpretation of female's inner nature through the interaction with mud is brought about in different ways. The inclusion of non-human colors such as blue or dark pink reflects not the skin color of the subject but suggests a certain time of the day for the viewer, namely nighttime or early morning. The idea is created that the body is part of the natural elements reflecting even the light and mood of the day. These ideas cannot be overlooked by the viewer considering the obvious focus on the subject of the picture over the object of femalehood depicted. This is all important in today's highly visual culture given how it is rare to stop and reflect specifically on the procedure of creating or the meanings that the piece attempts to convey. However, this series inclusion of the elements of detail (sharp contrast between the mud and the body), time (through the change in colors), and the thing itself (part of the female body rather than the entire physic) are important to the overall ideas conveyed. The placement of the figures in a manner that makes the body appear enclosed by the frame and constrained by it as is well illustrated through the inclusion of only certain body parts creates a visual tension that distracts the reader's attention away from the nudity illustrated to the theme of focus. In this lies the power of the interaction of mud with the female shape. © Robert WK Clark