Self Portrait
On
rainy days, starring at the rain drops trickling down on the window pane , I
started to see my reflection on the window. My house seemed to turned. I heard
the chiming of the bells from Big Ben that caught the attention of my right eye
to be aware it was a quarter past twelve. A fast approaching vehicle was near
as the beam of an oddly Victorian train blared past my eyes on the left.
Leaving a trail of smoke as it subsided showing me chimney neighbourhoods all
across. And hey ,Mary Popins graced elegantly past the roof of houses. The
clanking of the work of coal workers on the strange tubes and mechanical gears
rang in my right ear. A never before seen steam tram whizzed past with the drums
of metals clashing inside the engines .New blares from an unusual trombone with
pipes all over. Birds spread their wings as I looked up to the sky seeing the
familiar airship from countless fiction movies, I had realised it was night as
it rested on my lips with a smile. And yes ,I have found myself loving every
bit of wonders and imagination can bestow upon. Now I have a theme for my
masterpiece.
From this steampunk inspired art, we see it portrays the
complexity of life be it the futuristic Victorian period or the now age .For
instance , the coal smudge workers by the machinery gears ,the non-stop
‘choo-chooing’ train with smoke spewed
all over across the dense chimney neighbourhood . However, take in the bigger
picture of it and you would see something only imagination triumphs over logic.
Yes, myself portrait .Yes all these are part of my imaginative fantasy mind and
how I see the world. The message that I want to share is that life is
complicated but with a little imagination, we will able have a spin on the
story to achieve something(this case the face ) that will make living life so
much wonderful and fun.
The fusion of the fantasy and alternate history to which steam
punk gave me the opportunity to portray shows my fascination on both science
fiction and history. For the fiction part: the steam tram , the tubes , the
trombone .The historical: chimney houses, the train, mechanical gear, man with
cane ,Mary poppins, air-ships.
A sudden discovery or philosophy I made while researching on
steampunk is that it kind of subtly portrays the drive of human nature .We are
not robots as we have emotions and feelings that sometimes get all entangle up.
From this portrait, it says that no matter how “ technological” and innovative
we are , it’s not fake batteries(force to excel) but our heart and “the steam”
from our passionate being to achieve success .
In this portrait, you will see subtle coloured pieces of
texture. The subtle colour represents the zest in life.So once the black and
white illustration of the self -portrait is done, motes of colour pieces are
then added on . This shows that with the finishing icing (colours or zest) ,the
topsy- turvy imagination world of one( black and white self - portrait) comes to
life. self portrait first draft
Steampunk has always been first
and foremost a literary genre, or at least a subgenre of science fiction and
fantasy that includes social or technological aspects of the 19th
century (THE STEAM )usually with some deconstruction of reimagining of or
rebellion against parts of it(THE PUNK).
In short, steampunk is where advance
machine is widely use but takes place in a past century .It involves a setting
where steam power is dominant whether in an alternate history. Here are the
elements that incorporates steampunk: science fiction , fantasy , alternate
history , horror and speculative fiction.
I dream and imagine , the one place I
feel true to myself and wonders just come bursting out of excitement . I
believed to be free to discover possibilities and to find the true meaning of a
wonderful life’’. I believed visionaries built this world we live in starting
from…yes you guess it “ a little imagination and guts’’. Without knowing where
do I stand at one point as I then came across the Steam punk Art movement, I
knew I found my home as fantasy and speculative fictions in my mind came to
life .
Sherlock Holmes Movie
Why Steam punk
have moved me even more? Well it’s because there is a ‘special element’ which
is fused with the ‘punk’ part to create this art movement. That ‘special
something’ is the historical part of the 1980s or the Victorian period .I have
always been a fanatic when it comes to vintages and classical heritage of the
past as I feel that more heart and sweat are put into their works. In other
words , it’s the nostalgia .I did fantasies once about the possibility of
having everyone on earth still living a bygone time life in this modern world.
Alas!! Movies like Sherlock Holmes was made as steampunk was born.
