Out of all the pieces we looked over in
the past few days, none really reached out to me like one of
Francesca Woodman's unfinished pieces shot in 1977, specifically one
from her “Angels” series. Angels in general both as a concept and
a symbol fascinate me, so when we went over Woodman's work I was
immediately drawn to the one piece that was almost undoubtedly
focused on the concept of an angel. In this shot Francesca is
suspended but by the grace of a single frame of time above the
floorboards within an older, slightly dilapidated house. Two large
paper wings are suspended by thin wire from the ceiling. These wings
frame Francesca from above in a way that transforms her at least
temporarily into a partially abstract angel. Francesca herself is
only dressed in what looks like long bloomers, dark stockings and
black shoes. Personally, for the sake of the piece I prefer such
attire; the bloomers give her the appearance of a bell-shaped dress
stereotypically attributed to angels in art. The dark stockings and
shoes, also, sort of blend into the background, at least more so than
the rest of her from the waist up. These elements help lead attention
to the gesture of the head and torso, the contortion of the spine and
the emphasis of the arms. This gesture is highlighted by the lighting
mostly from the window to her left(our right), which contrasts well
with the dark corner she positioned herself in front of. Her figure
follows the rule of thirds along the vertical lines, and just barely
along the horizontal lines, attractively composing the piece without
backing herself into a corner of the picture plane. The contrast is
solid without feeling blunt, keeping that necessary light airy
feeling. All in all an inspiring piece.
