Melancholy is mostly connected with a feeling of sadness and depression, but Insolnia brings a new aesthetic mood into the contemporary melancholic scene. Gloomy illustrations that are full of bright, luscious colours with a bittersweet feeling. A touch of pleasure associated with a weird sense of unapologetic guilt. Insolnia's illustrations explore the mundane day-to-day life of these odd characters in a homely environment where it is often portraited the struggles of the ordinary.
From a feminine point of view, the Portuguese artist based in the UK is unveiling the truth about quotidian beauty. The goofy characters with massive arms, legs, body hair and body fat are challenging the social media rules about what is normal and what is not. Since selfie culture took off in around 2013 that our beauty standards became more plastic than ever. Our self-obsessed culture is flooding the beauty industry with new companies and innovative products to make us look a certain way. These beauty rules are not new, but they definitely aggravated due to the high volume of social media users and the speed of share that Internet provided us. The thing with Instagram is that not only it had a significant impact in the beauty industries, but also Instagram began to make us feel embarrassed about what our real life's look like. Social media became about a particular lifestyle with something luxurious and exciting every day. No day was like the day before, and the mundane in what makes us all equal was ceased. At this point, the quotidian is not pretty, it doesn't sell, and you should never aim for it in life. These conceptions have been shaping generations and will still do in probably 10- or 20-years' time. Insolnia's illustrations are confronting these rules in a fight for equality. Most of these drawings started during the quarantine, which is interesting by itself as mental health issues increased and as no one could leave their houses, there was this desire to relate with something that we are all doing. Quarantine conveyed relevancy to a simple life. While portraying these gloomy little giants, the artist gave a sense of hope to the viewers. As the luxurious lifestyle could not be achieved at this point, everyone was looking for a message of joyful reassurance, and that is something the viewer can find in Insolnia's melancholic illustrations.
More than a lifestyle critique, Insolnia's illustrations are exposing how we are all different but the same. Even though you may identify a gender, the viewer will never be sure about what these characters are. Labels as race or sexuality, for example, are eliminated. We are all human beings who are lazy, anxious and sad sometimes; human beings that have body hair and some body fat we try to hide; human beings existing in a comfort space without judgment. This last part is an especially important feature of these contemporary illustrations. The fact that the illustrations are capturing these giants comfortably naked doing their activities around the house make the viewer feel like they are watching something they shouldn't. A cheeky peek through the window that is so relatable. Creating an intimate connection between the observer and the observed. And here the guilt emerges: guilt because we are watching it but also because we can relate to it. But as mentioned before, this guilt is a bittersweet feeling mixed with pleasure—the pleasure of being lazy but slightly guilty because we are wasting valuable time.
Insolnia's illustrations give the viewer the same feeling that Laure Prouvost does in her "Look Behind The Curtain" (2010) installation. Both illustrate the bittersweet feeling of being a voyeuristic viewer. Laure Provoust work is an installation work with 20 chaotically displayed oil on wood paintings that are slightly covered by two black curtains on each side. The oil paintings are quite small, and you can see these perfectly shaped pinkish naked buttocks in various positions. The work mimics the act of looking through a window, and it forms an intimate relationship with the viewer. With this, the artist produced an open invitation for the viewer to peek through the window, to see what shouldn't be seen. Both works from Provoust and Insolnia generate this feeling of pleasure and guilt to watch something that is forbidden. Which is also a significant critique of how social media bans nudity. The French artist believes that "we are living in a time when prudishness appears to be growing". Social media is a significant part of how most people acquire knowledge nowadays and when any kind of nudity display is being banned as offensive, we are building a generation that is disgusted or scared of the nude. The nude is part of what makes us all equal and should not be banned; instead, it should be embraced. Nudity is often related to the sexualization of the body which may not be necessarily true. More, the normalization of the nude can have a remarkably positive impact in fighting other misconceptions over minorities as gender, beauty standards, race, etc. The more we see nipples or genitalia, the more banalized it will be, for example.
The artists, Laure Provoust and Insolnia, share a feminine point of view that is so necessary too. Being a woman addressing the nude has an entirely different meaning than it would have if it was a man. The feminine point of view addresses concepts that go behind the beauty inherent to the shape of the portrayed. Both artists are fighting social media standards to normalize, accept and appreciate the beauty of the ordinary. In a time where we are so advanced technologically, some conceptions seem a bit retrograde and absurd. And artists that defy us with the beauty of the uncomfortable are essential to moving forward. Forward to a time where labels are no longer necessary to feel worthy and respected—a time where the ordinary and a simple life are appreciated against a capitalist, facade life.
Footnotes
Black, H., 2017.Artist Laure Prouvost Is Pasting Nudes All Over Copenhagen. [online] AnOther. Available at: <https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/10114/artist-laure-prouvost-is-pasting-nudes-all-over-copenhagen> [Accessed 6 July 2020].
Gilbert, A., 2018.Laure Prouvost - Features - Art-Agenda. [online] Art-agenda.com. Available at: <https://www.art-agenda.com/features/241340/laure-prouvost> [Accessed 6 July 2020].
Images
Saatchi Gallery, 2010.Look Behind The Curtain. [image] Available at: <https://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/artpages/laure_prouvost_bottom.htm> [Accessed 6 July 2020].
The Artist
Sol is a UK based artist and recent Graduate at Cambridge School of Art. After her BA (hons) degree in Fine Art, the artist jumps into the freelance world as an illustrator, creating Insolnia. This persona challenges the audience to look for new perspectives in the mundane actuality, through colourful, quirky compositions and subtle philosophies.
Instagram: @insolnia
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