‘The Shower One’, is the first piece in the ‘Shower Series’ of drawings and paintings that I have been working on.
'The Shower One' holds a special place in my heart as it is the first painting I did, back in 2015, from the ‘Shower Series’ of paintings & drawings. It started with a random photograph, (that I came across in a book), of a standing female nude. I liked the simplicity of her stance, and so I started to draw various impressions and interpretations of that stance. As I got further along in the sketching process, the drawing started to develop a life or personality of its own. There was a slight tension & vulnerability developing in my female figure, which I found interesting and wanted to explore further. I began to draw more ideas that addressed my questions, such as: 'What would it look like if her posture was hunched? What would it look like if I her arm was thrust up as if she were shielding herself?' Then more questions arose as the drawings developed: 'what could she be protecting or shielding herself from?' Then the idea of a type of bursting water started to develop...& thus 'The Shower One' had evolved. I decided to develop the drawing into an oil painting as I wanted to capture various textures, colors, and movement. The curved wall in the painting came about from my observations of the skate park ramps. Whenever I would go to my local park, I would often stop by the skate park there. I loved the shapes of the curved ramps, that the skaters would skate on. I thought what would happen, visually, if I flipped this curved ramp onto its side? & thus, the curved wall in the painting was the result.
What I love about this painting is the immediacy & urgency of the bursting shower water, falling on the female figure, as if catching her off guard, as she tries to shield herself from it.
The Shower One
By Ijlal Olguner, 2015
Oil on canvas
‘The Shower One’, is the first piece in the ‘Shower Series’ of drawings and paintings that I have been working on.
'The Shower One' holds a special place in my heart as it is the first painting I did, back in 2015, from the ‘Shower Series’ of paintings & drawings. It started with a random photograph, (that I came across in a book), of a standing female nude. I liked the simplicity of her stance, and so I started to draw various impressions and interpretations of that stance. As I got further along in the sketching process, the drawing started to develop a life or personality of its own. There was a slight tension & vulnerability developing in my female figure, which I found interesting and wanted to explore further. I began to draw more ideas that addressed my questions, such as: 'What would it look like if her posture was hunched? What would it look like if I her arm was thrust up as if she were shielding herself?' Then more questions arose as the drawings developed: 'what could she be protecting or shielding herself from?' Then the idea of a type of bursting water started to develop...& thus 'The Shower One' had evolved. I decided to develop the drawing into an oil painting as I wanted to capture various textures, colors, and movement. The curved wall in the painting came about from my observations of the skate park ramps. Whenever I would go to my local park, I would often stop by the skate park there. I loved the shapes of the curved ramps, that the skaters would skate on. I thought what would happen, visually, if I flipped this curved ramp onto its side? & thus, the curved wall in the painting was the result.
What I love about this painting is the immediacy & urgency of the bursting shower water, falling on the female figure, as if catching her off guard, as she tries to shield herself from it.
Ijlal Olguner