For this piece I wanted to clearly show the similarities/differences between Celtic/British and Indian culture so I used the photos from my Boudica photoshoot and from the Gulabi Gang photoshoot. I liked that although they were different poses they were both the same face, showing how we are all a part of the human race but just choose to express ourselves differently culturally. I decided to further highlight this with the use of pencil drawn faces and blank hair inspired by Sofia Bonati’s work. Not only does this help to lift the figures apart from the background and into the foreground but also furthers the idea of a similar base of identity across both cultures and I am really happy with the smooth shading. I drew these out freehand so there are some small proportional errors but overall I think I managed to capture the expressions really well. For the clothing on both I decided to use the modern day military camo pattern to indicate the subtle ideas of feminism since both figures from the Gulabi Gang and Boudica are strong visions of female empowerment. I chose the green colours for the Celtic figure to link in with the military uniform but for the Indian figure I used pink watercolour to mimic the Gulabi Gang’s uniform of the pink sari which helps to distinguish the differences in the figures with the contrast of colour and therefore culture although overall the other contrasts such as in the background designs and faces are much more subtle.
For the background I decided to draw in ink patterns from Celtic designs and Indian Henna to highlight the different cultures and show the similarities in their merging, inspired by Ole Aakjær’s tattoo designs in his work. For the Celtic border around the Celtic side of the piece I used a zoomorphic pattern from Courtney Davis’ book of ‘Celtic Designs and Motifs’. I chose one with hares because they were a symbol of strength and respect for the Celts that I thought linked in well with the figure of the warrior Boudica and feminism. For the Indian side of the border I used a Henna lotus blossom motif which is a symbol of the light within and femininity that I chose because I thought it went well with the Gulabi Gang’s beliegs and hope in women—therefore both sides choose natural imagery to express these ideas but in different styles: the Celtic being more complex in the weaving of lines and the Indian more complex in the intricate detailing. For the main body of the background I found a Celtic spiral design in the same book that I thought mirrored the woad tattoos on the Celtic figure’s face and highlighted the warrior aspect as well as feminine beauty. To match this I found a Henna hand design on Pinterest which had the same central ‘cross’-like motif and square repeated pattern, showing the similarities in culture but again was more intricately detailed and so allowed to show the subtle differences between Indian and Celtic culture in terms of pattern. To highlight this subtlety I decided to leave the designs in black and white and also so they didn’t draw away too much from the figures and overall I am very happy with the outcome although perhaps the last column of Indian pattern on the right should have been Celtic instead for a more even, central merge.
