I chose to do my presentation about Vincent Bal. He is an artist that focuses on shadowology, a term coined by him which I assume means “the study of shadows”. Bal uses shadows in his art to create outlines of characters, and even sometimes, to create movement. He uses random household objects, as well as colored pens to create art. The image below is an example of using a kitchen tool to create a scene:
In the example clip below, uses a cactus toy to mimic a boy’s legs as he pedals a bike:
The following video gives a much clearer insight into his creative process:
I won’t spoil much more, as there are many other cool pieces that I would like to present in class. However, I would like to share that I believe, simplicity, perspective, and joy seemed to be Vincent the values that he attempts to instill in his artwork. . The idea of simplicity and perspective shine in his work, where he is able to see what a few others are, and is able to realize his visions using common household items. However, he seems to choose to do this so that he can spread joy. In the description of one of his Youtube videos, he wrote:
Let’s exchange all guns for pencils, see who can draw first
And that’s what drew me to Vincent’s work. As someone who has dabbled in photography, I can appreciate the gift of perspective, where someone is able to see what a few others are able to imagine. However, it’s the naïve, almost childlike obsession with wanting to spread joy in the world that keeps me in awe of his work. I’ve embedded a PDF of my final presentation below:
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/@Vincent_Bal