Known for her unique and innovative sustainable fashion designs that combine a love for design and art, Lithuanian artist Ieva Li in Vision Body Print explores images of the female body. The A2 monochromatic acrylic painting is an individual amongst a series of other ‘body prints’ that challenge the rules of classical painting, highlighting female individuality and the beauty of the female form. Like many of Li’s other pieces, Vision Body Print is no exception to the rule of self-expression that is heavily apparent throughout her body of work.
Currently based in London, Li’s most recent project during COVID-19’s lockdown incorporates household appliances, the body as a paintbrush and other art materials – ending up with a collection of intricately bleached, painted and embroidered garments. Notably, a collaboration with One Tree Planted brings to life the artists’ belief that “creativity can find a way to change the world”, ensuring her work contributes positively towards a more sustainable future – every purchase plants a tree! This ideology extends to everything in her portfolio being exclusive and one-time-individual pieces; effectively challenging issues brought about by other fast fashion brands.
Returning to Vision Body Print, the initial appearance of erratic mark-making left by acrylic paint is a sense of consideration that implies a love for the female form. It must be cherished, loved, and adored, not exploited. It very much challenges the idolised and, more often than not, over-sexualised female figure represented by many historical periods. However, Vision Body Print is abstract enough in that it could surely be perceived as a sudden outburst of emotion. Suggested by the dark, thick whips of paint that stretch across the paper indicative of arms, it feels as though the figure releases themselves from the restrictions they were repressed by. Perhaps this is Ieva Li’s visual interpretation of what freedom from societal expectations feels like.
Words by Chloe Copley
