Civic Body
This piece started with a quick moment. I saw a garbage man in Paris who just looked effortlessly cool. He had sunglasses on, cap turned backwards, and something about his presence made me snap a picture. But while drawing him later, I started thinking more critically about that moment. I realized I’d taken his photo without asking, like he was just part of the city’s background instead of a person with his own story.
That made me reflect on how we sometimes stop seeing people, especially those doing essential jobs, as individuals. They kind of become extensions of the systems they work in. That’s what inspired the title Civic Body. It’s about how a person can feel absorbed into the identity of the city they serve.
The visual distortion, with his body almost merging into the architecture, is meant to show that fusion: the fading of personal identity into something bigger, impersonal, and structural.
This piece started with a quick moment. I saw a garbage man in Paris who just looked effortlessly cool. He had sunglasses on, cap turned backwards, and something about his presence made me snap a picture. But while drawing him later, I started thinking more critically about that moment. I realized I’d taken his photo without asking, like he was just part of the city’s background instead of a person with his own story.
That made me reflect on how we sometimes stop seeing people, especially those doing essential jobs, as individuals. They kind of become extensions of the systems they work in. That’s what inspired the title Civic Body. It’s about how a person can feel absorbed into the identity of the city they serve.
The visual distortion, with his body almost merging into the architecture, is meant to show that fusion: the fading of personal identity into something bigger, impersonal, and structural.
This piece started with a quick moment. I saw a garbage man in Paris who just looked effortlessly cool. He had sunglasses on, cap turned backwards, and something about his presence made me snap a picture. But while drawing him later, I started thinking more critically about that moment. I realized I’d taken his photo without asking, like he was just part of the city’s background instead of a person with his own story.
That made me reflect on how we sometimes stop seeing people, especially those doing essential jobs, as individuals. They kind of become extensions of the systems they work in. That’s what inspired the title Civic Body. It’s about how a person can feel absorbed into the identity of the city they serve.
The visual distortion, with his body almost merging into the architecture, is meant to show that fusion: the fading of personal identity into something bigger, impersonal, and structural.
Dimensions
A2
420 x 594 mm
16.5 x 23.4 inches
A3
297 x 420 mm
11.7 x 16.5 inches
A4
210 x 297 mm
8.3 x 11.7 inches
Frame not included.