(Note: This week’s post contains some vague nudity, so #NSFW.)
This week, I’ve been back in the studio, doing some new materials experiments- and getting messy, which has been enjoyable! I certainly have an ingrained resistance to making ‘messy’ work: generally in my practice I enjoy making sense of the mess, by kind of sieving (?) things down to their basics and ending up with something minimal. That can be so satisfying.
However, whilst working on my recent experiments creating organic, gut-like forms, I realised these were sterile, neat versions of something that in reality, is quite the opposite. Trying to contain a condition like Ulcerative Colitis in a neat, sterile visual is a challenge- it’s a messy condition and our bodies are messy.
So I leaned in to that messiness, and discovered a great new material to use- expanding building foam! I created a range of different gut-like forms, including this one on the plinth. I like the idea of the white, tidy contemporary-art-plinth having a big pile of sloppy guts on top. I tried some other variations too:
I suppose the digital version of mess is ‘glitch’. I’ve already mentioned Glitch Feminism by Legacy Russell- its interesting to view my condition as a ‘glitch’, rather than a ‘problem’.
Returning to the source: GUTS, this week I met with the Head of Anatomy at Brighton Medical School, Dr Claire Smith, who was a fountain of knowledge regarding all things guts, as you can well imagine. As well as organising me some time to study some real specimens-in-jars, she introduced me to a fantastic 3D Anatomy programme called Complete Anatomy, which I’ve been experimenting with digitally earlier this week, and creating some fun abstract images (as well as getting a much more detailed idea of how the digestive system actually looks).
Another thing I learned from our conversation was this: Did you know that when you first begin to exist as a feotus, your digestive system is outside your body? With this in mind, I created some images using my own body and some of the physical gut forms I made using the expanding foam in the studio.
Last weekend I went for a wander in Stanmer woods- both to gather visuals and audio, and also to practice what I’ve been preaching and getting out into nature- something I’ve felt more able to do since recovering (although after a couple of hours wandering in the woods, I was exhausted).
I realised you have to walk really far into Stanmer woods before you can’t make out the drone of heavy traffic…
A shorter post this week whilst I get my head back down to work, as well as planning the next Artists, Models, iNK event, happening tomorrow at Fabrica Gallery, should you be looking for a creative way to spend a Friday evening. We’ll return for more in the summer.
Resources:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/complete-anatomy-2019/id1141323850?mt=12