John Witty

Subjective Representation.

My gathering process brought me back to the cemetery a number of times. It also led me to a quote that I had read in a book by Nathaniel Hawthorne last semester, The Marble Faun. Speaking of marble busts, the quote laments the fact that "Posterity will be puzzled what to do with busts like these, the concretions and petrifications of a vain self - estimate." Like most 19th century cemeteries, the Cimetero degli Inglesi is filled with many sentimental sculptures and portrait busts and reliefs. To me it is an embodiment of the ideas and tendencies of that time. Many 19th century artists and intellectuals who were active in Italy are buried in the cemetery or connected to people who are. Looking at the sculptures in the desolate, empty cemetery led me to the Hawthorne quote. As a part of my brainstorming process I went back to the quote and circled the words that stuck out in my mind. I especially like the ideas I connected with the words "concretions" and "petrifications." The cemetery itself is one great concretion, figuratively and literally. Viewed from the outside, across the busy boulevards that surround it, it is one great accumulation of prickly vertical forms - all elaborate funerary sculptures. These sculptures in turn are symbolic representations meant to represent and honor people buried there. Standing in the middle of the cemetery, one is surrounded by a great accumulation of symbols. Some frequently recurring symbols are portraits, wreaths, roses, angels, praying girls, and perhaps my favorite, real pomegranates that have been planted in front of the grave of a famous English poet. With my objective drawing, I will seek to recreate the feeling of this overwhelming mass of symbols. My sketches led me to a composition that investigates the repetition of round forms in the cemetery, including wreaths, roses, pomegranates, and possibly a profile portrait on a Russian woman's grave.

Other current explorations include the hallways of the Uffizi, for Regan's sketchbook class. I love this space. When I sit at the end of the hall, I like to think about how it is most definitely amongst the grandest hallways in the world. I wonder how many representations of the human body are in front of me as I sit drawing, trying to make them fit into a scale of perspective. There are also many busts in the hallway, created in ancient Rome to memorialize or honor. Certainly a space that to me embodies the concept of "The Body and Architecture."

Also included is a picture of a sketch from Giorgion'es "The Tempest," just because it is a painting that I love, and seeing it was something that I felt was necessary for my life. The sense of mystery it portrays is heightened when one stands in front of it, and the strange woman's expression is bold, ambiguous, and captivating.