Green Man-nequin

Here is the mannequin head that I am working with below, before I started mutilating him.

I used a hot wire tool to burn/melt my way through the polystyrene. I manipulated the hot wire into an "O", which allowed me to quite literally scoop out the polystyrene as I went along.

I kept going until I had something much like a bowl shape.
The head was completely empty and it was a bit creepy.

I was intending to use this head as a plant pot, so I made sure that the edges around the bowl were still as thick as possible, so that they would not break when I added soil.

For no reason whatsoever, I decided to place a torch inside the head. It was at this point that I realised that I had burnt far too close to the eyes with the hot wire tool, allowing the light to shine through perfectly. It is almost as if his eyes are glowing.

I decided to experiment with this concept in a dark room, using coloured paper to manipulate the colour of the light.

The fact that the polystyrene is so porous and translucent means that it conducts the light from the torch amazingly. The torch lit the whole head up in the dark room.

I placed thin green tissue paper over the torch light to filter the light.
The green light instantly made for a much more interesting piece.

The green is very fitting for the natural direction I am taking my art.

Close ups of the photography reveal the detail of the polystyrene, made up of a thousand tiny circles, that are all different tones of green as the light passes through them. I find this very interesting, and wonder if I could take this further..

This photography reminds me of the "Green Man" motif.

The Green Man is a man constructed purely of nature, usually leaves and greenery. He is said by the Pagans to be a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of growth each spring.

Here are three pieces of art resembling him.

The Green Man is a very vague idea, and as you can see, every piece of art of him is different. I enjoy this anonymity and also the involvement of nature atop a human. It almost relates back to Anj Smith once again in the way that the hair of the man is long and intertwined with nature.

In Paganism, the Green Man is the near equivalent of the male Mother Goddess. He is the father of nature, which relates heavily to the direction I wish to take.

I think that it could be interesting to follow this idea, and create a "Green Man" of my own.