Wellbeloved: The girl with the golden hair:

7/12/12

The girl with the golden hair:

...And why she has a frog in her mouth.

For two months, this ghostly sculpture has been haunting my room. It was a paper mache project I did in sculpture class, but I never got around to painting it. Finally, Tuesday, I decided it was time.

The first coat was white (and gold hair).

Then I did some layering and splattering and detail...and it's done. That feels good.

Introducing: "She Has Golden Hair"

So...Why does she have a frog in her mouth?!

If you didn't take time to read the little fairy tale, basically it is a story of two girls. One sister—because of her sweet disposition—was blessed with diamonds and jewels coming out of her mouth with each word she spoke, while the other—because of her rudeness and temper—was cursed with snakes and toads coming out of her mouth with each word. This is the story I had in mind when I created the sculpture. The assignment was to sculpt a bust out of paper mache that would mingle ideas of attractiveness and repulsion. Furthermore, a verse in the Bible says,"Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." (Mat 15:11) Put the verse and the fairy tale together and you have a pretty girl with a repulsive bad temper who hurts others and sins by the words coming from her mouth (represented by the frog).

Stylistically, I went for contrast--especially around the frog and mouth. There is smooth/ rough, pale/bright, and red/green contrast, and all tie back to the concept that repulsive is noticeable contrast to a pretty face.

The gold hair? It puts emphasis on the value people place on beauty (blonde being often considered a mark of beauty). The green eyes also hint to an envious nature, which is often times a malicious girl's biggest problem.