Christina's World

The Painting

In lesson we looked at a Picture called "Christina's world" which was painted by a man called Andrew Wyeth. The painting is of a woman called Anne Christina Olsen who was the next door neighbour to Andrew's wife. Anne had polio which is a disability where the nerves of the spine are damaged and makes them unable to move particular muscles. In Anne's case she was paralysed from her hips down and so she had to drag herself around her house and her field. she did have the choice to have a wheel chair but she turned it down.

Initial Response

Before we even looked into the background of the painting we had to make notes about our first responses to the picture. Some immediate words that popped into my head was alone or escape as the woman in the painting is the only person in it and she is far away from the house so I presumed she wanted to be isolated. I also notice her pink dress and how it look old so the picture was probably based in the 1940's because of her old dress and hairstyle. I also noticed that her dress was a very distinctive bright pink and it make me see the woman as the brightest part of the painting. I also thought that because she was reaching towards the house that she was remembering the good memories from the house and because she was sitting in a dark patch perhaps she was in a dark place in her life.

Second Response

After looking into her background we realised the painting was based on her disability and how she is struggling with her weakness but she still keeps going. My group therefore it was about strength and determination because she doesn't want to dehumanise herself. We therefore had to create a freeze frame showing Christina's physicality. We did this by having everyone lean on each other in an ascending order to show how even though she hasn't got the ability to walk she can keep going like any normal human. we tried to base it on the position that Christina's position in the painting so we all looked as if we were crawling to our feet. to push this image further we added the sound effect of panting to show her struggle in her everyday life. it also therefore inspired the name of our piece to be called "Heavy Breathing".

Final Response

From doing this activity I have learnt that it is good to look into your stimulus as the meaning behind it  could be different from your original interpretations are. I also have realised that even the smallest of idea or theme can influence the whole piece and can be a good starting piece for any devised piece of drama.