Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase
I discovered this extraordinary short film through an interview with documentary film maker Adrian Storey who was the director of photography on the film History, Mystery and Odyssey
One of the subjects of Adrian’s film is Joan C. Gratz, who created this seven minute Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase and won an Oscar for the Best Animated Short Film in 1993.
Gratz pioneered an animation technique known as clay painting. Working with bits of clay she blends colors and etches fine lines to create a seamless flow of images. In this film, that took two years to make, images of the human face are transformed to communicate the graphic style and emotional content of key artworks of the 20th century, creating an animated history of art.
In a world full of AI created images I found this soulful depiction of the human face and form mesmerising and hope you do too!
