Darren Angove

University of Sunderland

My submission is about “Flexibility”. I began to explore the word “flexibility”, and
started thinking of flexible things like rubber bands, bendy lines, trampolines, things
that you can bounce off, bending over, I thought about what materials can be
stretched, and what body language expresses flexibility. I didn’t want to be too
serious about this piece of work and thought of using something comical and witty. I
then had this idea of the circus, and how acrobats jump about in the ring, and
researched images of the circus and trapeze artists, old and new, which made me
think that a trapeze artist would be a fantastic idea. So like a jigsaw puzzle I began to
collect and put things together, like the bendy lines, and a trapeze artist who is
flexible, swinging high, a bendy ladder, and a net at the bottom in case the trapeze
act falls so there’s something to bounce off. I introduced some lights in the top left
corner, added stars and circles of light to give it that circus feel. A circus is enjoyable
and makes us feel amazed, I wanted the viewer to feel that energy, which is awesome
and yet magical.

Theme: Flexibility
Medium: Acrylics and collage