Undesirable FormsThis exhibition represents an investigation into capturing and expressing the psychological and emotional conditions of pain, grief, and distress. In the past, my subject matter has consisted of artwork specifically based on psychological disorders, and the symptoms of those illnesses. Although the research for my most recent sculptures and works on panel also focus on psychology, the content now centers on the repulsion and discomfort women can experience within their mind and body. This artwork is meant to be exaggerations of undesirable female bodily features, which would be considered unwanted within our society and culture. These features include skin tone (discoloration), skin texture (wrinkles), and also body hair. The research is intended to depict the emotions of how a woman might view herself, through an abject point of view, opposed to an actual depiction of the female form. This artwork is intended to reveal the complexity of contentment within oneself, and is meant to attract and repulse the viewer using both beautiful and undesirable formal elements.
Although oil paint is still used within this research, the primary medium I use to create the works on panel is encaustic wax, which is a combination of bleached and purified beeswax and gum damar. Plaster life-casts are also used to create the human forms, and in some cases a layer of the encaustic wax is applied on top of these forms. The wax functions very much like flesh, and has a translucent and luminous effect when applied in layers. This theme interests me on a personal level, because I feel that everyone can relate to having some kind of insecurity with his or her own body. In today’s society, an unhealthy emphasis is placed on achieving the perfect figure and the ideal of what the public thinks we should be. Within this research I try to capture an unpleasant and undesired depiction of flesh, to reflect unease, and evoke an emotion of discomfort within the viewer. |