Start.

Captive. Pencil. Click here to view image larger.

I started my final year at UWE with the intention of exploring the art of tattoos. However I found I quickly digressed after my research led me to the tattoos of prisoners of war during the Holocaust; this led me to looking at the treatment of prisoners at Buchenwald by Ilse Koch. I then progressed into reading about the Angel of Death at Auschwitz and then onto Unit 731.

All of these events both horrified and fascinated me; I found I was interested in repulsion, in the edges of morality; how people declare and enforce their control and power over others through acts of violence, both sexual and not.

I began my visual exploration of this intrigue which a detailed pencil drawing of a naked bound women. However, I discovered that the image was seen as more sexual than captive. Naked rather than nude, not vulnerable looking enough.

I discovered during a seminar that I had too many random thoughts and ideas; I needed to connect them all and pick one. I found it wasn't necessarily the idea of control that I was interested in but the stories and narratives behind the acts of mutilation etc.

I decided to pick a serial killer and his/her 'story' and go with it. Doing several quick sketches illustrating a narrative. I settled on Andrei Chikatilo....for now.

Wikipedia: Andrei Chikatilo

Portrait of Chikatilo. Pencil.