Cecelia Webber
THE
ARTIST
Images courtesy of Cecelia Webber
Cecelia Webber is an American multidisciplinary artist working primarily in acrylic and digital media. Her digital photographic images of flowers and plants often require up to 700 layered variations which are then coloured to achieve her desired design. The results serve to illustrate how intertwined natural forms can be and culminate in singular images of great beauty.
Image Courtesy of Cecelia Webber
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
When I first came across Webber's artworks, I assumed that they were merely photographic prints of flora and fauna. Only upon closer look, did I realise to my astonishment that these flowers were made out of hundreds of nude human bodies pieced together. I was entranced by the intricacies of her floral tessellations as well as the way she masterfully intertwines natural human forms to create alluring images. I found it interesting that she integrates seemingly unrelated subject matter - flowers and the human body, yet both images come together seamlessly.
NATURE FUSED WITH HUMANS
‘nudity is sometimes thought of as a shameful thing, inspiring guilt or fear,’ but fundamentally our body is the ‘medium through which each of us experiences reality, and the complex relationships within the body and its environment create the human psyche.’
Through reconceptualising human body parts as leaves or petals, Webber aims to encourage the rethinking of the human body, exploring its intersection with the natural world. She hopes to help people realise a positive self-image of their bodies and to have the ability to look at nudity and nakedness as comforting, vulnerable, and beautiful.
Image courtesy of Cecelia Webber
PROCESS
Each composition can take up to two months to produce, and involves photographing scores of poses; digitally cutting, rotating, and colouring the resulting images; and assembling all of the components together into the finished piece. Webber frequently takes more than fifty photographs of a single pose to achieve the desired form. She also regularly uses herself as a subject, setting a camera timer and then orienting herself for the photograph.
APPLICATIONS TO OWN ART MAKING
I was personally most inspired by Webber's openness to experimenting with unexpected forms to see the relationships that may arise from it. We may likewise take time to notice the beauty in the most unconventional subject matter in our daily lives and be bold in taking risks and experimenting with unusual combinations of things in our artworks, as we never know the fascinating possibilities that may arise from it.
Images courtesy of Cecelia Webber
MORE WORKS!
Images courtesy of Cecelia Webber
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Written and Designed by Eponine Tan, April 2020
*THE ARTIST CECELIA WEBBER HAS GRANTED US PERMISSION TO PUBLISH THIS ARTICLE.