The process of modelling for an Art Piece
Recently I was fortunate enough to model for Hafsah Jamil on her latest art piece with my partner, Jacob Carter. The work entailed us painting each other, leaving our impressions on the other, in order to define our impressions on our bodies. This stems from and builds upon her previous work on body image and self expression.
[1] 
[2]
[1] Jamil, H. (2020). Breast Prints. [Acrylic] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7YexzlhYwW/ [Accessed 9 Mar. 2020].
[2] amil, H. (2019). N/A. [Acrylic] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/B3r6mTPh7je/ [Accessed 9 Mar. 2020].
The thick layers of paint that she uses in her current work help create a very loose and freeing atmosphere within her body of work. With bold and striking colours applied in such a fluid style, it is hard to look away from her pieces, to me they scream ‘loud and proud’ which fits perfectly into her theme of body positivity and expression. I love her strokes and how they make the paint feel molten and melted into the imagery she creates. Her techniques of palette knifes and making prints are ones I’d like to look into and explore in my own way as my course advances into looking at painting media. Her work has inspired me and has made me think and look much closer at how our drawing and painting techniques advance and emphasise our narratives and themes within our work, and I believe her techniques work hand in hand with her themes very effectively.
Creating Impressions
It was a new and one of a kind experience modelling for Hafsah’s latest work, and also completely out of my comfort zone. I, like many other women, struggle with body confidence, so I arrived at the photography studio feeling both extremely nervous to show so much of my body, but also excited to explore a new practice of painting I never thought to explore before. I also had my amazing partner Jacob to share the experience with, which eased my nerves. Hafsah’s vision for the shoot was to explore the impressions we have and leave on other people, in this case literally, and the focus was on our relationship. How do we feel around one another? How do we affect one another? What are our impressions on one another?
Once we were undressed and exposed, we began painting one another with brushes, this made everything feel formal in a sense, but once Hafsah informed us we could use our hands and be more expressive the nerves began to ease off and we found it much easier to find comfort in each other, and more importantly be ourselves, which is hard with a camera recording us so unprotected and bare. I found that as the painting process went on, I began to feel a lot more confident about myself and my body. Within the shoot it became very evident to me that Hafsah’s theme of body confidence and expression had woken up and became alive as Jacob and I painted on each other.
As the filming and photography process went on I found, looking back through the pictures, they became very intimate and a reflection of ourselves. Looking through Hafsah’s work it felt like she was holding a mirror to our relationship, our bond and our connection to one another. I love how, without Hafsah’s direct input , we ended up creating similar strokes to the ones she uses in her work prior to this shoot. She captured our essence as a couple while we captured her essence as an artist. We had influence over each other without knowing, which I didn’t think would happen in the process of the shoot. Everyone had an influence on the atmosphere within the artwork.
After seeing the finished products of the shoot, and falling in love with the photos, I was intrigued and eager to learn more about her thought process and inspirations behind her work and themes.
To Hafsah Jamil :
How would you describe the piece?
What do you want it to say?
What are your inspirations?
‘I think the photos and the video are quite playful and fun like your relationship and it’s just meant to show the impressions people leave on one another which I hope it does. It’s meant to show how similarly you react with each other and how you pick up each other’s habits when you spend time with each other. I think Alexa Meade as an inspiration.’
-Hafsah Jamil
Looking to the inspiration that is Alexa Meade
I was curious to see the inspiration behind some of her work, and immediately upon seeing Meade’s website I could see the similarities between the work.
[1] Swimming Along, 2017 
[2] Bold Beauty, 2017 
[3] Tempted in Private Moments, 2017
[2] Meade, A. (2017). Bold Beauty. [Paint on body] Available at: https://alexameade.com/new-portfolio/#&gid=psgal_18079_1&pid=4 [Accessed 9 Mar. 2020].
[3] Meade, A. (2017). Tempted in Private Moments. [Paint on body] Available at: https://alexameade.com/new-portfolio/#&gid=psgal_18079_1&pid=6 [Accessed 9 Mar. 2020].
Alexa Meade’s methods involve painting the environment around the model as well as the model in order to create an immersive experience for the viewer. She uses Bold and vibrant colours to create a somewhat surreal view, that feels like both reality and a dream. I love the effect and atmosphere created by her bold strokes and use of colour, and how at an initial glance from a photograph her work does look like a traditional 2D painting. By painting on a 3D canvas she effectively creates clear layers between the background and the foreground, which one may find difficult to recreate using such thick strokes on a 2D canvas.
I think it is clear that Hafsah has taken inspiration from pieces like [3] but has added her own twist to the idea of painting on bodies in this way. As to me Hafsah’s pieces contain a much more intimate and grounded atmosphere, rather than trying to create her own world and environment. Jamil’s work reflects the colourful side of relationships and reality rather than trying to create her own reality, as Meade does. Hafsah took an amazing idea and made it her own, separate from but still loosely connected to the origins.
The final products:
I’m in love with all the pieces created from the shoot, it’s really interesting to view yourself and a relationship from an outside perspective. As I said before it feels like a mirror being held up to an intimate relationship I share with someone I truly care about, which is what the artist in some ways set out to do. It was an eye opening experience to take a step back and look at my relationship from the Artists eyes and to see what impressions we have on one another and how we can be. It was a wonderful experience to work alongside such a talented artist and to see how her ideas develop and to look into a new art practice I hadn’t considered before.
Simona Hopewell : Drawing 1 