Ichabod Crane | Research Notes
"How rare to stare into the face of death. Something I never intend to do again."
- Ichabod Crane, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
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My piece is a reimagining of a classic tale, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", written by Washington Irving in 1820. The story has always fascinated me, with the supernatural elements as well as a period of history - colonial 1770s America, which I had never learnt about and greatly intrigued me. The recent tv show adaptation, "Sleepy Hollow" was another primary source of inspiration, with the show propelling 1770s Ichabod Crane into modern day Sleepy Hollow in New York.
Time travel is a topic that I have always found inspiring but had never really explored in my work, and after finishing my piece for Postopia, it seemed the perfect opportunity to thread together several interests of mine into a singular piece; technology, time travel, cyberpunk/steampunk, costume and history.
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Inspiration and historical context:
With this as a springboard for inspiration, I wanted to create the character of Ichabod Crane being propelled not 250 years, but 1000 years into the future.
What would the world look like in 2770? In the bid to fight climate change, would the world as we know it now, be drastically different? Would it revert back to ways of old, a simpler life, or would humans have to submit to a world of artificial intelligence taking over?
Another element I borrowed from the show is its ties to the Ancient Sumerian Gods (namely, "The Hidden One"). In short, with an unleash of evil sprung upon the town of Sleepy Hollow, this resurrected god is one of them.
Sumeria is (if not one of) the world's most ancient civilisations, dating back to 6000BC. What would the world have been like? What tools did we have at our disposal?
With doing some research into mythology and artefacts from that time, I discovered the language of Cuneiform, the first language ever created by humankind. I thought this was incredible, and with the links to time travel in the piece, I wanted to inscribe this into the painting as runes, alluding to the world reverting back to simpler times, such as in the iconic novel, "The Time Machine", by H. G. Wells, (the future retains elements of Ancient Egypt, namely the Sphinx).
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Ichabod"s attire:
The runes down his clothing (which is a spin on 1770s clothing, with his outfit retaining mixtures of old and new) simply spell "Sleepy Hollow", a constant reminder and echo of the world Ichabod Crane once knew, and a new world he does not understand.
The skull is symbolic for various means. The most obvious to those familiar of the tale, is of the Headless Horseman, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Horsemen of Death. Alternatively, it signifies the death of the old world, and the rebirth of a strange and unfamiliar land, a significant alteration to humanity.
The inspiration and meaning behind the bionic arm is explored in greater depth in my piece, "The Modern Prometheus", featured here.
"How rare to stare into the face of death. Something I never intend to do again."
- Ichabod Crane, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
--------------
My piece is a reimagining of a classic tale, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", written by Washington Irving in 1820. The story has always fascinated me, with the supernatural elements as well as a period of history - colonial 1770s America, which I had never learnt about and greatly intrigued me. The recent tv show adaptation, "Sleepy Hollow" was another primary source of inspiration, with the show propelling 1770s Ichabod Crane into modern day Sleepy Hollow in New York.
Time travel is a topic that I have always found inspiring but had never really explored in my work, and after finishing my piece for Postopia, it seemed the perfect opportunity to thread together several interests of mine into a singular piece; technology, time travel, cyberpunk/steampunk, costume and history.
--------------
Inspiration and historical context:
With this as a springboard for inspiration, I wanted to create the character of Ichabod Crane being propelled not 250 years, but 1000 years into the future.
What would the world look like in 2770? In the bid to fight climate change, would the world as we know it now, be drastically different? Would it revert back to ways of old, a simpler life, or would humans have to submit to a world of artificial intelligence taking over?
Another element I borrowed from the show is its ties to the Ancient Sumerian Gods (namely, "The Hidden One"). In short, with an unleash of evil sprung upon the town of Sleepy Hollow, this resurrected god is one of them.
Sumeria is (if not one of) the world's most ancient civilisations, dating back to 6000BC. What would the world have been like? What tools did we have at our disposal?
With doing some research into mythology and artefacts from that time, I discovered the language of Cuneiform, the first language ever created by humankind. I thought this was incredible, and with the links to time travel in the piece, I wanted to inscribe this into the painting as runes, alluding to the world reverting back to simpler times, such as in the iconic novel, "The Time Machine", by H. G. Wells, (the future retains elements of Ancient Egypt, namely the Sphinx). To see more, view the counterpart: The Catacombs.
-----------------
Ichabod"s attire:
The runes down his clothing (which is a spin on 1770s clothing, with his outfit retaining mixtures of old and new) simply spell "Sleepy Hollow", a constant reminder and echo of the world Ichabod Crane once knew, and a new world he does not understand.
The skull is symbolic for various means. The most obvious to those familiar of the tale, is of the Headless Horseman, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Horsemen of Death. Alternatively, it signifies the death of the old world, and the rebirth of a strange and unfamiliar land, a significant alteration to humanity.
The inspiration and meaning behind the bionic arm is explored in greater depth in my piece, "The Modern Prometheus", featured here.
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". A1 (59.4 x 84.1 cm). Acrylic and gold leaf on wooden panel. 2019.
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The process:
To date, this is the largest painting I have ever done, that in itself being a progressive leap as an artist. The scale is typically out my comfort zone, as well as working in acrylics which is a fast drying medium, resulting in little time to experiment and play with colour ideas and blending. The addition of gold leaf also was a material I had never worked with prior to the painting, and similarly, it was hugely rewarding to try and add new techniques to my paintings.
To conclude, I greatly enjoyed the challenge and having the freedom to work on such a large scale, and painting on wooden panel was also a first for me. As a result, the process was highly enjoyable and the experimentation will undoubtedly benefit me as an artist, as I'm far more inclined to work this scale and larger in future!
Sketchbook drawings of studying the language Cuneiform.
Work in progress shots below.
Click images to see full size.
Final piece and detail shots below.
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Final piece.
Details
Details
Final piece.