an ap-peeling look

For this piece, I really wanted to use the assignment of repetition with something that often comes in multiples, but make a different change to them. I thought that bananas would be something fun, and specifically wanted them to look realistic, other than the colors.

To make each banana, I cut a 2×4 to be 8 inches long, and used a stencil to cut the basic curve of the banana. After that, I sanded the bananas to be rounded, using the edges to my benefit in the shape. Sanding was, to me, the most difficult part (and apparently most dangerous, but only because I was not being careful). It was difficult to get the shapes to match and to look how I wanted. Multiple times I thought one banana was my favorite and used it as a reference, and then would make another and change my mind. With differing favorites and reference shapes, it was difficult to make them consistent.

When painting the spots on the bananas, I enjoyed getting to use the texture of the wood to my benefit. I used crevices as cuts and painted deeper sanded sections as bruises. Using the medium to my benefit was definitely something that I learned to do with this project. 

I also struggled with the idea of putting all of my pieces together, especially with the smaller sections of the bananas, and the shape I wanted would likely not be structurally stable. Creating more of an installation, rather than a sculpture that can stand on its own, allowed me to use the bananas to create an interesting use of negative space, as well as add the bunches of bananas in the way I had originally wanted.