Mood Studies bring colour symbolism to portrait sculpture, using paints from manufacturers’ colour charts to add another layer of psychological depth to Jeans’ works and further question how we perceive portrayed individuals.
In Male, 60-69, Light & Breezy (X80R164F) and Male, 60-69, Superstitious (X114R222D), Jeans plays with the questionnaire format of categorising individuals into groups according to gender, age etc. Here, however, Jeans adds the category of mood, using the names of paint colours to provide a tangible, if slightly unreal take on what we instinctively look for in our fellow humans.
Above images MALE, 60-69, SUPERSTITIOUS (X114R222D) Painted plaster Life-size head
Above images KERNEL OF TRUTH (L12dW24b) Painted plaster Life-size torso
In Kernel of Truth / L12dW24b, Jeans used a colour from B&Q called Kernel of Truth to finish an unfinished portrait and speak of its condition when abandoned mid-process, allowing a glimpse at a more natural, or truthful state of being. The cracked and lumpy clay reveal some of the processes involved in the sculpted portrait and some of the challenges faced when creating a human representation in a material with its own unique essence so unlike human flesh.
