Public spaces are perceived as locations which are equally accessible to all people who wish to use them, under the condition that they conform to the strict but loosely defined behavioural rules that are deemed socially acceptable. However, those who exist in the margins of hegemonic discourses have largely experienced that what is considered “socially acceptable” tends to be decided through a patriarchal hierarchy, which undermines the democratic and egalitarian values promised by a public space, open to all people. This body of work examines some of the ways in which public expressions of gender and sexuality are navigated by those who don’t conform to the hegemonic confines of what is acceptable. By appropriating traditional ideas and signs of gender and sexuality, I have created a series of art works which subvert the hierarchy of public space.
Untitled (Bound)
Plaster, Condoms and Jute Twine
Untitled
Wax Cast and Jute Twine
Mr Knife & Mrs Fork
Oil stick and ink on paper
A Body That Slept Warm Through Winter
A Body That Slept Warm Through Winter is a series of computer-generated human organs rendered in digitally, they are projected onto tubes of mesh, and present the illusion of physicality. They only really exist in a virtual space, as code and a series of algorithms, but spend time in our world as light.
This piece explores how technology has progressed to the point of abstraction. We take for granted the way machinery has been weaved into our lives and who among the general public truly understands these intricate mechanical processes. Our contemporary comforts rely on a series of independent operations that work in unison to create a functioning system, yet if a single operation fails or malfunctions the outcome is potentially catastrophic. Similarly, the human body is governed by the same intersystem dependency. Through medicine we have found that when our organic processes fail the synthetic can sometimes take its place by repairing bone with titanium and nerves with wire. Even our physical and virtual identities are interwoven with technology, my laptop and phone contain an imprint of myself as code and data. No two pieces of technology are the same once they become personalised by the user.
5 channel projection, colour, no sound, looped & tulle
