A Metaphoric Transformation of the Pawpaw Tree Into Female Forms in Painting
Chapter One
Aim and Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to create paintings based on the metaphoric articulation of the pawpaw tree, into female forms, while the objectives are to:
- transform the inherent aesthetic nuance of the pawpaw tree into female forms in painting;
- produce paintings that exhibit feminine metaphoric gestures from the pawpaw
- exhibit t he practical outcome through cataloguing
- perceive and interpret the pawpaw tree subjectively through
- ideally conceptualise the pawpaw tree as female forms in painting.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Preamble
The literature review covers 31 works made by artists. The works include some artists whose works are centred on feminist art movement, their inspirations, methods they used, and philosophies, which are in line with the thrust of this study. It looks at the varied aesthetic forms that other objects exhibit, female images inherent in such objects and paintings that metaphorically discuss female issues. Lacy (2014) declares that, the goal of feminist art is to ―influence cultural attitudes and transformation stereotypes.‖ This reflects a feminist perceptual encounter with the pawpaw tree and other elements of nature. The literature discusses them in relation to the objectives of this research. Other reviewed works include the conceptual explorations of female images inherent in the elements of nature. It embraces works that reflect the theory of conceptual art by Luise (1983), as idea-based and not object-based. Though the emphasis is on the pawpaw tree, some works also review aspects of the pawpaw leaf and other elements of nature hence, their similarities with this study. The above listed categories of literature shall be discussed accordingly as listed. The purpose of this review, is to show the diverse ways artists have explored natural forms, to conceptually evoke forms and in particular, female forms in art.
The tree made its way to Brazil, where Portuguese colonists, seeing a resemblance in the fruit‘s shape, to that of a woman‘s breast called it ―mamão‖; maybe this probably could be where the name ―mummy apple‖ originated. This plant is grown in the tropical region of Africa and its cultivation has conveniently been extended into the forest regions. In the order of classification, the pawpaw plant, belongs to the family of caricacea. The papaya trees can be male, female or hermaphrodites. Delziel (2009) postulates that, the male pawpaw is reserved by moan for medical purpose only, and the female pawpaw, produces fruits for both food and medicine while the hermaphrodites trees produces bisexual flowers. It is one of the enchanting elements of nature, endowed with visual aesthetic qualities. Anon (2012) adds that, Papaya was the first transgenic fruits tree to have its genome deciphered.
In some other parts of Asia, the young leaves of the papaya are steamed and eaten like spinach while in some parts of the world, papaya leaves are made into tea as a treatment for malaria. Pawpaw is one of the few fruits crops that cannot tolerate chemical fertilizer. No part is wasted, as all are useful to man. It could also be vital to note that, the uses of both female and male pawpaw roots as contraceptives, in the prevention of unwanted pregnancy are practiced in many homes. This is a natural method of family planning. Women in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and other countries have long used green papaya as a folk remedy for contraception and abortion. Enslaved women in the West Indies according to Morton (1987) were noted for consuming papaya to prevent pregnancies and thus preventing their children from being born into slavery. Similarly, Dharmananda, (2005) confirmed that in North America, the term ―pawpaw‖ usually refers to plants. In Cuba, it is called ―fruta bomba‖ and the word papaya is reference to female Genitalia. This shares affinity with the present study; interrogation of the pawpaw leaves metaphorically into female form in painting since it is in line with some of the features the researcher perceives as a woman‘s world, like the fruit which suggests breast, fertility, the conspicuous scars as the female tattoo, plight of a woman and the misery behind the monthly cycle, child birth, prolonged labour, body scarification of the female, caesarean section, female circumcision, to mention but a few.
Traditionally, the pawpaw leaves serve as therapy to women; it aids the easy flow of breast milk, when the boiled extract is taken by a nursing mother. It is in that sense, a careful appreciation of the physical features and compositional appearance of the pawpaw tree could imply a conceptual imagery or form that could be interpreted to be similar to a female form. The researcher therefore, considers the pawpaw tree to be an important element, a ―gift‖ of nature, which has visual qualities and structures that could be adapted in painting. It may be termed illusionistic or an incredible idea. Whichever way it is viewed, using the pawpaw tree to develop female forms in paintings that evoke feminine discourse is considered a viable creative and expressive possibility for this research.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Preamble
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This study adopts the studio exploration procedure derived from the qualitative methodology, with emphasis on action research approach. The primary focus of this research is to advance knowledge about practice, and to advance knowledge within practice. Leavy (2009) adds that, action research technique is suited for the artist who seeks to describe, explore, or discover knowledge by presenting a set of meanings to his audience. The researcher seeks to explore the pawpaw tree with a view to visualising female forms and to use painting as a tool for discussing feminist issues. Diaz (2000) is of the view that traditional instruments of qualitative research like camera, phenomenology, observation, questionnaire…serve as data-collecting instruments in conducting action research. Sani (2013), ―A Synthesis of Swange Dance Steps and Colours on Canvas‖, Oyedemi (2014) titled ―Interrogating Charcoal Market in Painting Using a Restricted Palette‖; Adeyemi (2012) titled, ―Innovative Exploration in the Synthesis of Easel Painting, Olarinde (2014), ― Contextualisation of Potholes on Nigerian Roads In Painting‖. The researcher seeks to explore the pawpaw tree with a view to depicting female forms, and to use painting as a tool for discussing feminist issues.
Process and Procedure
The study commenced with preliminary studies, where works were executed from observation, photographs and sketches from a life study of the pawpaw tree in its natural habitat. These sketches were done on a smaller support (paper). The aim was to observe their suitability before depicting same on a larger support. The researcher explored other mediums like chalk pastel, gouache and ink oil. The second stage is the exploration of forms where the researcher embarked on a studio exploration; strings were incorporated on the paintings to manipulate the veining details on the leaf construction. The developmental stage of the study was done in 3 sub-groups which are phases I, II and III. Phase I: In this sub-group, the female forms were mostly circular in nature, inspired by the shapes of the pawpaw fruits. In phase II the researcher employed the scratching technique with the aid of a palette knife, to achieve the conspicuous scars on the tree trunk. Phase III was on the conceptual representation of the pawpaw tree as a whole, based on the researcher‘s idea on the pawpaw tree forms, as prescribed by Luise‘s theory (cf. Luise, 1983). Similarly, William (2000) observes that Langers‘s philosophy is an idea that there is a basic and pervasive human need to symbolize, to invent meanings, and to invest meaning in one‘s world. The metaphoric transformation of the pawpaw tree form into female forms lies on the researcher‘s perception of the pawpaw tree form. This has resulted to forms that are novel and metaphorically used to discuss the feminist art. The execution of works is categorized according to their sequential stages of production:
Stages of Production
Preliminary Exploratory
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS OF PAINTINGS PRODUCED
Introduction
One of the functions of art is that it communicates thoughts, ideas and emotions as observed by Lazzari and Schlesier (2008). This is not far from the theory of conceptual art as idea-based, articulated by Luise (1983). This researcher‘s emotion towards the pawpaw tree has led to the execution of abstract forms in painting. These authors stress further that art has content, which is the mass of ideas associated with an art work and communicated through the following; the art‘s imagery, the surroundings it is used to display and its symbolic meaning. Images created within the context of the study, are deduced from the pawpaw tree, as the source of inspiration, through the researcher‘s perceptual encounter of the pawpaw tree, as it evokes a female form. Sixteen works were discussed according to their stages and mode of production, out of the numerous works produced in the course of the study. Seven were analysed in the exploratory stage
CHAPTER FIVE
CATALOGUE
Introduction
This chapter is in two sections, containing the artist‘s curatorial statement and a portfolio of paintings produced, giving an account and clarity on the research carried out. Mitchell in Buhari (2015) unequivocally explores this dynamic relationship between an art work and words (theory). The author investigates the iconology of the image, text and ideology, advancing the discourse that there is a dialogue that exists between an images
/text duality .This is similar to the course of this study, where works produced are again analysed by the researcher for better understanding and documentation. In a similar vein, Buhari (2015) considers this duality an endless dialogue. He adds that often, the text and image run in parallel directions, never converging other times, the author adds that the dialogue is symbiotic, complimentary, other times, even ambiguous, yet in other situations, it is like a round table for conflict resolution.
CHAPTER SIX
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Preamble
This chapter summarises the study such that observations centred on the findings in chapter four offer the source from which the conclusions, contributions, and recommendations were made.
Summary
Works were produced through studio explorations. This encompasses works at the Preliminary, exploratory, and the developmental stages of phases I, II and III. The study commenced by portraying knowledge acquired from the perception of nature and its element in art and other objects. It is hinged on the transformation of the pawpaw tree into female forms in painting. The researcher‘s appreciation of the physical features and compositional appearance of the pawpaw tree has potentials for a conceptual imagery of forms, which could be interpreted to be similar with female form. The statement of the research problem was based on the metaphoric gestures that can be deduced from the pawpaw tree form, which have not been explored as expressions in painting. The study was to create paintings based on the metaphoric transformation of the pawpaw tree forms into female forms in painting. The study is justified in that the researcher tests the concept of Luise which states that ―art lies not in the object but in the artist idea of how to form it‖, using pawpaw tree as the subject. The scope of the study is the ‗sunrise solo‘, one of the Hawaiian varieties of pawpaw tree, due to its availability and the aesthetic surface quality and commonly found around the main campus of the Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria, where this research was carried out. The theory of Morton Luise constitutes the conceptual framework. The main idea of this research is to create paintings inspired by the pawpaw tree that metaphorically evoke women issues in painting. The literature review included the reviews of 31 works by artists. The works include works of some artists that made painting centred on feminist art movement, their inspirations, methods used, and philosophies, which are in line with the thrust of this study. It looks at the varied aesthetic forms other objects exhibit, female forms inherent in these objects and paintings that metaphorically discuss female issues. The literature discusses them in relation to the objectives of this research. Other reviewed works include the conceptual explorations of female images inherent in the elements of nature. It embraces works that reflect the theory of conceptual art by Luise, as idea-based and not object- based.
The study adopts the studio exploration procedure derived from the qualitative methodology with emphases on action research approach. The researcher explored the pawpaw tree forms by visualising female forms, and used painting as a tool for discussing famine issues. The study began with the preliminary studies, as the phase I of exploratory stage, where works were executed from observation, photographs and sketches from a life study of the pawpaw tree, in its natural habitat. These sketches were done on paper as supports and later transferred to a larger support. The researcher explored other media like chalk pastel, gouache, ink and oil. The second stage was the exploration of forms where the researcher embarked on studio exploration that involved the use of strings on the paintings to render the veining details on the leaf construction.
The developmental stage of the study was done in 3 sub groups which were phases I, II and III. Phase I: In this sub-group, the female forms are mostly curvilinear in nature, inspired by the shapes of the pawpaw fruits. In phase II, the researcher employed the sgraffito technique with the aid of a palette knife to achieve the conspicuous scars on the tree trunk. Phase III was the conceptual representation of the pawpaw tree as a whole, based on the researcher‘s idea on the pawpaw tree, based on the theory of Luise which states… The execution of works…categorized according to their sequential stages of production:
Preliminary; Exploratory;
Developmental stage: Phases I, II and III.
Works produced in the three categories as mentioned above, emanated from the four stages of action research technique, as recommended by Sullivan (2010). The collection of data was done through observation, photographs and sketches. The researcher adopted the four stages of action research recommended by Sullivan which are:
- Ideas and interrogation;
- Structure, design and sketches;
- Critical process/ Exploration and Development;
- Visual Practice/Catalogue/Exhibition.
Findings of the Study
The study has discovered the possibility of transforming the pawpaw tree into ‗female forms‘ in painting. Works produced as inspired by the pawpaw tree, resulted in the creation of novel forms in painting. In view of this, Gbaden (2014) states that the ultimate goal of a study is to make a seminal contribution to scholarship in the plastic arts by creating a relatively novella way of ―thinking‖, ―doing‖ and ―seeing‖ contemporary Nigerian paintings. In a similar vein, Sullivan (2010) explains the possibility of taking painting as theory, since painters have always been deep thinkers who periodically ―think in a medium‖, ―think in a language‖, and ―think in a context‖. The major finding of this study sees: ―Art as idea based”. The study is a body of philosophies which produce works that mirrors the feminine world. The perception of the pawpaw tree manifests novelty in works produced which share affinity with the woman‘s world. The study has broadened a visual perception on the ability to perceive and interpret a subjective thought through an object, and to see art as idea-based rather than object-base, as propounded by the Conceptualists. The study has through its findings answered the five research questions which are as follows;
- The aesthetic nuances of the pawpaw tree weretransformed into female forms intuitively through exploration of
- The female metaphoric gestures inherent in the painting of the pawpaw tree include:plights of a woman; the female circumcision, mystery behind child birth, prolonged labor, caesarean section, among
- Thestudy exhibit the practical outcome through cataloguing
- The type of Conceptualised female forms subjectively deduced from the pawpawtree are; the female breast, the female ovum, the ovaries, the women body tattoo, the female hip and the dread-locks hair style of women.
- Thestudy ideally conceptualised the pawpaw tree as ‗female forms‘ in
Conclusion
The research established novelty in forms realized in the course of the study, as the images derived from the pawpaw tree reveal unique forms in painting. The study has been able to show an individual‘s emotion towards an object (pawpaw tree). The study has evolved a divergent way of thinking and painting via its perspective on the pawpaw tree forms as an element of nature. The study has also revealed the researcher‘s perceptual ability to see, scrutinize and to find suitably graspable forms.
Recommendations
This study recommends that:
- Artistsin search of new forms, should delve into other trees and elements of nature to derive artistic forms from them
- Thestudy recommends explorative intuition, directed at the various throes of the female challenges and
- Furtherstudies should be carried on the female body not covered in this
- Researchon metaphorical studies in painting on other plants tied to the female gender should be carried out.
- Moreresearch should also be carried out through individual artistic perception on the female form relying on all other plants and objects.
- Theexplorations on the pawpaw tree can be used in the textile world as it creates an aesthetic surface quality, which can be adopted to create designs on
Contributions to Knowledge
The study on the metaphoric transformation of pawpaw tree forms into female forms has been able to contribute new knowledge in art through the following ways:
The study:
- Addressedin painting gender issues relating to women in the society (such as female circumcision, prolonged labour, mystery behind childbirth, caesarean section etc)
- Establisheda visual perception of a subjective thought in modern Nigerian painting in line with the conceptualist idea of art as idea -based using pawpaw as subject
- Establishaesthetic nuances (such as curvilinear lines, veining design of the pawpaw leaves etc) into female forms towards the development of modern painting in Nigerian.
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