Your body is my canvas | Alexa Meade

譯者: William Choi 審譯者: Marssi Draw

You may want to take a closer look.

你或許會想仔細地看看

There's more to this painting than meets the eye.

這幅畫比你看到的還複雜

And yes, it's an acrylic painting of a man,

是的，這張畫是用壓克力顏料 畫出來的男人

but I didn't paint it on canvas.

但我並不是畫在畫布上

I painted it directly on top of the man.

而是直接畫在那個男人身上

What I do in my art is I skip the canvas altogether,

我的藝術創作常常略過畫布

and if I want to paint your portrait,

如果想替你畫一幅肖像

I'm painting it on you, physically on you.

我會畫在你身上， 實際地畫在你的身體上

That also means you're probably going to end up

這也意味著最終

with an earful of paint,

你的耳朵裡可能到處是顏料

because I need to paint your ear on your ear.

因為我必須在你的耳朵上畫上你的耳朵

Everything in this scene, the person, the clothes,

這場景內一切事物，人物、衣服、

chairs, wall, gets covered in a mask of paint

椅子、 牆壁，都遮蓋著一層顏料

that mimics what's directly below it,

依照畫下方的物體繪畫出來

and in this way, I'm able to take a three-dimensional scene

以這種方式， 我能創造一個三維的場景

and make it look like a two-dimensional painting.

並使它看起來像一幅平面圖

I can photograph it from any angle,

我能從任何角度拍攝

and it will still look 2D.

它看起來仍會像是二維的

There's no Photoshop here.

這裡沒有用 Photoshop （修圖軟體）

This is just a photo

這只是一張相片

of one of my three-dimensional paintings.

那些三維油畫的其中一幅

You might be wondering how I came up with this idea

或許你會想知道我怎麼會想到

of turning people into paintings.

把人變成圖畫

But originally, this had nothing to do

原先其實跟人或顏料

with either people or paint.

也無關的

It was about shadows.

這是關於影子

I was fascinated with the absence of light,

我著迷於沒有光的世界

and I wanted to find a way that I could give it materiality

想找一種方法，在它改變之前

and pin it down before it changed.

可以把它實質地固定下來

I came up with the idea of painting shadows.

於是我想到了畫陰影

I loved that I could hide within this shadow

我熱愛可以隱藏在

my own painted version,

這些我畫的影子中

and it would be almost invisible

而且幾乎是看不見的

until the light changed, and all of a sudden

直至光線改變了，突然間

my shadow would be brought to the light.

我的影子就暴露在日光下

I wanted to think about what else I could put shadows on,

我在想還可把陰影畫在哪裡

and I thought of my friend Bernie.

於是想到了朋友貝尼

But I didn't just want to paint the shadows.

但我不僅想畫一些影子

I also wanted to paint the highlights

還想畫上一些加亮的部分

and create a mapping on his body in greyscale.

在他的身體上創作 一幅貼圖製成的灰階圖檔

I had a very specific vision of what this would look like,

對於它會變成什麼樣子 我有一個明確的概念

and as I was painting him,

當我給他塗顏料時

I made sure to follow that very closely.

我得確保畫得很相近

But something kept on flickering before my eyes.

但有些東西不停地 在我眼前忽隱忽現

I wasn't quite sure what I was looking at.

我不大確定看見什麼

And then when I took that moment to take a step back,

然後當我退一步，一瞬間

magic.

不可思議！

I had turned my friend into a painting.

我把朋友變成了一幅畫

I couldn't have foreseen that

在我剛開始畫陰影時

when I wanted to paint a shadow,

從未預料到會變成這樣

I would pull out this whole other dimension,

把其他空間維度也一併拉出來

that I would collapse it,

然後折疊起來

that I would take a painting and make it my friend

繪畫上色，再畫一下朋友

and then bring him back to a painting.

然後把他送回到一幅畫裡

I was a little conflicted though,

我心裡有點矛盾

because I was so excited about what I'd found,

因為我對我的發現非常興奮

but I was just about to graduate from college

但快要大學畢業了

with a degree in political science,

而且會得到政治學學位

and I'd always had this dream

我一直有個夢想

of going to Washington, D.C.,

就是去華盛頓哥倫比亞特區

and sitting at a desk

坐在辦公室

and working in government.

受僱於政府

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Why did this have to get in the way of all that?

為什麼出現這個擋路的？

I made the tough decision

我做了一個艱難決定

of going home after graduation

畢業後就搬回家

and not going up to Capitol Hill,

而不是到國會山莊去

but going down to my parents' basement

回到父母家的地下室

and making it my job to learn how to paint.

學習如何以繪畫為生

I had no idea where to begin.

我不知道該從何處著手

The last time I'd painted,

最後一次繪畫

I was 16 years old at summer camp,

是在十六歲時的夏令營

and I didn't want to teach myself how to paint

我不想透過臨摹年老大師的作品

by copying the old masters

或者拉緊畫布後

or stretching a canvas

在那平面上反復練習

and practicing over and over again on that surface,

去學習如何繪畫

because that's not what this project was about for me.

因為這並不是我想要的計劃

It was about space and light.

這是關於空間和光

My early canvases ended up being

我早期用的畫布最後都變成

things that you wouldn't expect to be used as canvas,

某些你不會想要用來當畫布的東西

like fried food.

像煎炸食物

It's nearly impossible

讓顏料黏貼在雞蛋的油脂上

to get paint to stick to the grease in an egg.

幾乎是不可能的

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Even harder was getting paint to stick

讓顏料黏貼在葡萄柚的酸上

to the acid in a grapefruit.

就更加困難

It just would erase my brush strokes

它只會把我的筆觸效果擦掉

like invisible ink.

像隱形墨水一樣

I'd put something down, and instantly it would be gone.

我畫下任何東西，它也會立即消失

And if I wanted to paint on people,

如果我想要在人類的身體上塗顏色

well, I was a little bit embarrassed

好吧，我真是有點尷尬

to bring people down into my studio

要把其他人帶到工作室來 向他們展示

and show them that I spent my days in a basement

我整天躲在地下室

putting paint on toast.

繪畫在土司上

It just seemed like it made more sense

在自己身上練習作畫

to practice by painting on myself.

看起來似乎更為合理

One of my favorite models actually ended up being

我最喜歡的模特兒之一

a retired old man

是一個已退休的老男人

who not only didn't mind sitting still

他不僅不介意坐著靜止不動

and getting the paint in his ears,

且在耳朵裡面塗滿顏料

but he also didn't really have much embarrassment

他倒是一點也不覺得尷尬

about being taken out into very public places

即使把他帶到公共場合

for exhibition,

展覽

like the Metro.

例如捷運

I was having so much fun with this process.

過程中，帶給我許多快樂

I was teaching myself how to paint in all these different styles,

我繼續自學嘗試畫出不同的風格

and I wanted to see what else I could do with it.

看看還能做點什麼不一樣的事

I came together with a collaborator, Sheila Vand,

我和拍檔希拉‧萬斯 (Sheila Vand) 一起

and we had the idea of creating paintings

我們有個想法

in a more unusual surface,

在一塊更為不尋常的表面上繪畫創作

and that was milk.

就是牛奶

We got a pool. We filled it with milk.

我們找到了一個水池， 把它裝滿了牛奶

We filled it with Sheila. And I began painting.

把希拉放在裡面 然後我開始作畫

And the images were always

最後畫像總是

completely unexpected in the end,

完全出乎意料

because I could have a very specific image

因為我有一個非常明確的圖像

about how it would turn out,

它最後會變成的效果

I could paint it to match that,

我能畫得跟想像的一樣

but the moment that Sheila laid back into the milk,

但當希拉躺在牛奶中的時候

everything would change.

所有東西都在改變

It was in constant flux,

且不斷地變化著

and we had to, rather than fight it, embrace it,

我們必須欣然接受， 而不是與其作戰

see where the milk would take us

隨著牛奶帶領我們

and compensate to make it even better.

並作出補償使畫作變得更好

Sometimes, when Sheila would lay down in the milk,

有些時候，當希拉躺進牛奶裡

it would wash all the paint off of her arms,

她手臂上的顏料會被沖洗掉

and it might seem a little bit clumsy,

這樣似乎有點笨拙

but our solution would be, okay, hide your arms.

但是我們的解決方法就是把手臂藏起來

And one time, she got so much milk in her hair

有一次，她的頭髮沾滿了牛奶

that it just smeared all the paint off of her face.

臉上的顏料也被擦模糊了

All right, well, hide your face.

好吧，這樣的話就把妳的臉藏起來

And we ended up with something far more elegant

最後我們的作品

than we could have imagined,

比想像中的更為優美精緻

even though this is essentially the same solution

即使這解決方法就像小孩子

that a frustrated kid uses when he can't draw hands,

因為不會畫手而沮喪

just hiding them in the pockets.

然後把手藏在口袋裡一樣

When we started out on the milk project,

當我們開始這項牛奶計劃時

and when I started out,

當我剛開始時

I couldn't have foreseen that I would go

根本無法預料

from pursuing my dream in politics

由到政治界去追夢

and working at a desk

在辦公室工作

to tripping over a shadow

到為影子神魂顛倒

and then turning people into paintings

繼而將人們變成油畫

and painting on people in a pool of milk.

在牛奶池裡的人體上作畫

But then again, I guess it's also not unforeseeable

但話說回來，我想根本不能預料到

that you can find the strange in the familiar,

你會在熟識的事物裡找到新奇的東西

as long as you're willing to look beyond

只要你肯去看遠一點

what's already been brought to light,

去看那些已經熟識的東西

that you can see what's below the surface,

那麼你就可以看得到底下蘊藏的東西

hiding in the shadows,

躲在影子裡的東西

and recognize that there can be more there

你會發現更多

than meets the eye.

比想像中更複雜的東西

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）