Monday, February 24, 2014

Nerdy, Adventurous Childhood Artwork

Just a drop of nostalgia to jumpstart your week here:

I recently came across a blog post presenting the works of artist Craig Davidson, who has captured what it was like to be a child of the "Star Wars"-verse, all imaginative light sabers, jedi mind tricks, and laser blasters galore.


His art shows exactly how the child interacts and manipulates the environment in order to bring the world to life. This is what kids do. It's precisely what I did, so to see the shadowed backdrop of iconic characters given life by these young kids felt like a mirror into my own adventures. It reminds me of countless children's books where kids do create their own worlds and have to fight to defend it (my own favorite Bridge to Terabithia comes to mind).
I do wonder, of course, about the gender roles being blatantly spelled out here. Can we only be inspired by, excited about and act out characters of our own sex?  (No.)
I checked out Davidson's collection and was startled to see his artwork concretely categorized as "Boys" and "Girls." I haven't looked through everything yet, but admit I do love the ferocious energy and contemplative outlooks his depictions of kids have. On my quick exploration, one collection did stand out:

The "Chums" series (look under Sea). I think my Gothic in Children's Lit class would have a lot to say about the association of the feminine with sharks. What do you think of all his art?

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