Modern Day Cave Painting Experiment

After researching cave paintings and petroglyphs (research folder) and then conducting the college creativity experiment previously (where I left sheets of paper on walls around college for students to 'leave their mark') this led on to these cave painting/petroglyph experiments.

Firstly I decided to experiment with joining my research and previous experiment together, and so aimed to create modern day cave paintings.
To create a rock like effect I used soft pastels as these are great for building up layers and recreating textures. It is likely that the artists of cave paintings used naturally found materials such as chalk, and pastels are very similar to this material. I also tried to remain close to the dark brown colours they were found to commonly use.
I then used my primary research photos to create drawings, with a few modern day symbols also thrown in to give a contemporary theme. I felt a twist on some common cave painting themes would be effective, to show how times have changed and basic situations/thoughts/priorities have evolved. I felt this work could be improved to look more similar aesthetically to real cave paintings, and to really show how times have changed in a clearer way. Therefore i developed this idea into creating modern day petroglyphs.

 Using a piece of mdf as my base (which in itself shows how the production of materials has changed over time) I drew out some designs based on the common subjects of cave paintings and petroglyphs. In my research I found that people were inspired by their surroundings, painting/carving large animals, powerful beasts, risky hunting scenes, and human figures(Africa). Particularly in India, the paintings depict the lives and times of the people that lived in the caves, including scenes of childbirth, communal drinking and dancing, religious rites and burials as well as indigenous animals. I decided to modify these themes, with drawings still based around communal drinking and dancing, huntings, animals, etc. but depicting our modern day versions. 
This could suggest how we need to remember where our lives and techniques originated from, and provoke us to reflect on how times have changed and how far we've come. It could also suggest how we will always stick to the same basic things in life no matter how much we develop, such as hunting/gathering food, having communal gatherings/traditions etc.

In my research I found that Neolithic painting was schematic, reduced to basic strokes. Therefore I used a scalpel to create simple lines and curves, using my research as a guide on how to draw in a cave painting/petroglyph style. The MDF was very  quick and easy to cut into and the lines showed through well, and so this proved to be a successful choice of material.

I felt that the aesthetic of the piece wasn't similar enough to the photos of cave paintings/petroglyphs in my research folder, and so decided to use soft pastels once again to give texture and a more visually interesting aesthetic to the work, as this was successful in the above sketchbook experiment.

 I am pleased with my outcome as I feel I have achieved my aim of creating modern day petroglyphs.The pastels have given a rock like effect whilst also filling the carved lines and giving them a more dominant appearance that grabs peoples attention. The carvings are thought provoking and open to interpretation, allowing different people to take different messages/comments/statements from the piece.
If I were to do this experiment again I would draw out a range of designs for the carvings and select the best ones to ensure they were effective. I would also spend more time recreating a rock style aesthetic, and would study petroglyphs in more detail to recreate the style as effectively as possible.