Latex, ink, pigment, charcoal, dust, ash, graphite, ochre pulled from etched steel, etched copper pipe
60 x 80 x 25 cm
I use organic and transitory materials to create work that is subject to time. I am interested in the relationship between touch and time; how it connects us to the past in the form of traces and remains.
“Run a finger along a dusty shelf, and you are in large part clearing a path through fragments of your former self.” - Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants
I like to work with the body in a way that is direct and immediate. The process to making Former Selves involved imprinting my body directly onto an etched steel plate. Imprinting is a technique that recurs throughout history. For instance, negative hand stencils found in caves which involved chewing up pigments such as ochre and spitting them around a hand that is in contact with a rock wall. The process feels intimate; it creates a tangible mark that highlights a material and physical connection to its origin. In this work, four impressions of my body represent four individual moments of contact between my skin and surface at that exact moment in time, depicting a paradox between absence and presence.
Copper is thought to have holistic healing properties. It is also a trace mineral in our bodies. Some people believe that copper can provide connections between the physical and spiritual realm. My work considers the relationship we have with ourselves, with our past, with our future and with death. Fingerprints are etched into the copper to highlight the importance of touch in our lives and how it gives us and intimate understanding of physical material.
