Woodman and the Untitled Angel

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.