Protector/ Companion DeLuna
I went into this project inspired mostly by Kate Clark’s works. She creates animals with realistic human faces. As I was working on it, I realized it’s the resemblance to No-Face from Spirited Away and Koh the Face Stealer from Avatar the Airbender.
I made this creature using a polar bear body and a basic human face pattern. I wanted the body to look strong and have a presence, and the face to be simplistic. The body is made of muslin and the eyes are silver sequins. Creating this creature was easier than I expected. I suppose I’m not used to basically following an already made pattern rather than one I’ve created.
To me, this creature seems liminal, almost like a spirit. If it were real, you would only interact with it in passing. The flatness and simplicity of the face resemble a mask, but the body and face are the same material. This suggests that the face is a part of the body, and having such a simple face with no discernible emotion gives it an eerie quality. Throughout critique, I think there was a consensus that the animal looks off-putting. It was also said that it looks almost like a child, I think this could be attributed to the large wide-set eyes which often signals youth or “cutenesss”.
I think the way I photographed was also important to its reception. In my photos, I wanted to create the environment you would see this creature in. A place where it would blend in with its environment. I also took the photographs at an angle in order to make it look larger and more intimidating than in actuality. I think in real life it looks a bit goofier because the face is so small in comparison to the body.