Gregor's Room

Gregor's Room

Paper and Ink

18 x 10 x 10 inches (space of entire piece)

After reading Metamorphosis, I felt that Gregor's story was very sad. The sadness I felt from the ending of the story was translated into the use of blues for the blanket, lamp shade, and pin stripes on the pillow. It seemed that Gregor was the bread winner of the family before his metamorphosis, making me think that he lived a depressing and tired life supporting his family. To show this depressing nature, I made the blanket have stains. I also made the wood on the bed frame, lamp, and coat rack look very worn and destressed to represent his feelings about his life before and after his metamorphosis. I chose white for the accent color because it not only felt realistic, but because it also contrasted against the blue and kept the color pallet muted, further pushing the depressing theme I was trying to capture. Gregor is represented as a roach, hiding under the bed. This reflects a part of the story where he is hiding under the bed, but also shows the shame and embarrassment he feels from his family. A briefcase is leaned against the bed to show that he is use to waking up and going right to work, and is also painted the same color black as Gregor. This was done to show that before and after his metamorphosis, Gregor's life and worth was always reliant upon working to support his family.