[ image description: a digital drawing of Mai from Avatar: the Last Airbender in my style. She is a light-skinned woman walking towards the viewer but looking to the left/her right and holding knives. She has gold eyes and black hair tied in several buns. She is wearing a red ruqun outfit consisting of a blouse with a high collar and wide sleeves, a wide sash, and a long, gored skirt. She is standing in front of a brown Fire Nation sign ]
prints ✨ commissions
The problem with black hair is you just can't see any of the details 😭 inspiration and influences under the cut, with the usual reminder that there's a lot of nuance and detail missing since these originally came from Instagram slides that I made:
A Bit of Background:
The Fire Nation is visually and geographically inspired by volcanic islands such as Iceland, Hawaii and Polynesian islands, while the culture of the Fire Nation is primarily inspired by East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as sun-worshipping cultures (such as the Ancient Egyptians and Mesoamericans). For example:
the Confucian concept of ‘filial piety’ (孝顺 or ‘xiao shun’) is central to the Fire Nation too;
the agni kai is a form of honour duel commonly seen in warrior societies of South Asia, and literally translates as ‘Duel of Fire’ or ‘Fire Quarrel’;
the Fire Nation propaganda justifying the war is reminiscent of the Japanese Empire during the Second World War;
the architecture draws on that of Ancient Egypt, different Chinese dynasties, and historic Southeast Asian kingdoms;
the food typically resembles the Sichuan food, particularly in the spiciness and quantities of meat.
Fire Nation Clothing:
The clothing of the Fire Nation draws from many East and Southeast Asian clothing. For example, the armour the military wears has influences from traditional Thai armour, the shoulder pieces the Royal Family wears come from Burmese court wear, the school uniforms are inspired by traditional Thai clothing, and the Royal Family's top knot appear to come from Qin Dynasty China.
The Royal Court are often seen wearing changshan, a traditional clothing of the Han Chinese, although that is not the only influence. For example, Azula's skirt comes from the wraparound trousers worn in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, while Ty Lee and Toph's jewellery comes from the Thai mongkut.
My Design:
For Mai's design, I took inspiration primarily from the Han Chinese ruqun (襦裙) outfit. I was draw to it because I think it nicely mimics the shape of Mai's original outfit. However, I also think the history of the attire ties into Mai's sorry. The outfit has been worn for thousands of years and it's the traditional attire of Han Chinese women. As someone who was trained to be the “perfect” daughter, I feel Mai would have a few of these kinds of outfits in her wardrobe (though she would, of course, also smuggle knives into any event).
I embellished Mai's outfit with balsamine flowers. They are associated with the Chinese phoenix (fenghuang or 鳳凰), which are considered the yin to the Chinese dragon's yang. Traditionally, they were reserved for the Empress in the same way the dragon was associated with the Emperor. In this way, I think the flowers hint at Zuko and Mai's relationship.
Vernissage ce jeudi 28/09/17 à 19h, avenue Félix Marchal, 1, 1030 Schaerbeek.
Julie Kern Donck, diplômée Printmaking 2016, est la créatrice des visuels de la saison 17-18 du Théâtre de la Balsamine.
Graveuse et sérigraphe de formation, Julie Kern Donck s'attache à explorer les techniques de réprésentation de l'image. Naviguant entre travail manuel et digital, son oeuvre est traversée d'allers retours entre matériel et virtuel, entre rationalité et poésie. Pour la saison 2017-2018 de la Balsa, l'image digitale a quelque peu perdu le sens des réalités, comme des proportions….
Comme un p'tit coquelicot... Fleurs sauvages du Boulonnais (Vidéo)
Comme un p’tit coquelicot… Fleurs sauvages du Boulonnais (Vidéo)
Aux Yeux Dans La Hune, nous ne sommes pas des spécialistes de la macro, ni des herboristes expérimentés, mais nous aimons marcher en regardant la vie qui foisonne à nos pieds, sur les sentiers du Boulonnais… En hommage à toutes nos fleurs des champs, que d’aucuns considèrent comme de mauvaises herbes indignes d’intérêts, nous vous offrons ce joli bouquet sauvage. En musique, encore, et quelle…
