A Cri de Coeur

Angry as Hell?

Yesterday was Bastille Day, which got me to pondering – Why is it that the British people seem so bovine and placid in the face of the current political incompetence, corruption, lies and ideological bullying? I’m madder than hell! Are you?

A Call to Action

If your feelings mirror mine, please help me create my next project and put my rage into the clay, by sharing with me photographs of YOU expressing rage. Not smouldering anger but raging fury. The more pronounced the expression the better. Using these images as visual reference material, I am going to attempt to sculpt a 100-strong portrait of Rage. A seething mob made up of my community. I want to feel I am not alone, the empathy of human outrage, the common cause of collective action.

Here’s what to do:

• Ask a friend or family member to take mugshot photos of you expressing rage from 4 different angles FRONT ON, LEFT SIDE, RIGHT SIDE and the BACK OF THE HEAD. 
• You may have to brush off your method acting skills, but try and hold the same facial expression in all four directions.  (Obviously, you don’t have to hold it while photographing your back!)
• To channel your feelings pick a few triggers from the possible motivations listed below.
• Take the photos in High Definition (if possible) – if you have iPhone use HD mode, better still shoot them with a camera. Ideally I need images of at least 2Mb at 300 dpi. 
• Take the images in front of a plain, light-coloured background so I can see as much of the shape of your head and hair as possible.
• If your hair is longer than shoulder-length, please wear it up for the photos. 
• Email or Wetransfer the images to me at Studio@jopearl.com with the subject line: I’m Enraged!

What’s my motivation Ms De Mille?

Take your pick of why you may be enraged: the arrogant incompetence of our government, avoidable COVID deaths, racism, ideological intransigence pushing the UK economy off a No Deal BREXIT cliff,  broken promises to key workers, inadequate action in the face of the climate crisis, voter suppression, political corruption – the list seems endless at the moment.

Commissions Gratefully Received

During lockdown I was fortunate to be commissioned to make a series of emotional portraits of a young brother and sister, for their father’s 60th Birthday. See main picture below. It was a great way to focus my mind, and stop me dwelling on dark thoughts during the height of the pandemic. And frankly fun to sculpt this flock of emotions – Which got me thinking – how it would be to make a crowd / a mob / a riot of individual heads to create a large installation … hence this call for your help – Once more my friends unto the breach! And please do share this with people who you think might enjoy being involved. The more the merrier! Hooray!