About
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Preservation serves as an artificial stagnancy. All practices, both organic and metaphysical, progress incessantly according to the mechanical procession of time. The act of preservation ultimately fails to halt the disintegration of our fleeting perceptions and instead, serves as a token of remembrance, a still of sorts, severing and isolating a momentary representation for our gluttonous, eternal consumption. Remembrance only exists as an imitation of self, sustained by the artificial material we shovel so ardently into memory's negative space. My work developed during my time at SVA between 2022 and 2024 serves as a parodical illustration of the futility of preservation. Paraffin wax, silicone rubber, pressed glass, plaster, and other materials developed as a means of preservation manipulate and distort images of my childhood and invade my anatomy. Cast limbs, constructed from silicone rubber, wax, and other discarded materials, appear frozen in time, flayed, revealing colorful entrails and viscera. My pieces act as a physical manifestation of the deterioration of memory despite our efforts to extend its dwindling shelf life.
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In our rapidly deteriorating, yet incessantly progressing societal ecosystem, there exists minimal room for art without the expectation for political commentary. It is the duty of the modern creator to incite the pathos of the public, beseeching them to make a change. I attempt to satisfy this expectation with my work, but in jest. The work serves as a surrealist reflection of not only the human experience, but also the lifecycle entirely. Embracing morbidity in its purest sense: you are more beautiful once you are dead.
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I believe that far more may be learned about one’s life postmortem. Investigating the physical characteristics of one’s anatomy after death gives insight into not only how this person may have died, but also provides a chronological record of experience. Childhood, diet, sexual orientation, mental state, etcetera; all functions that may be determined through the investigation of flesh and bone. With my sculptures intend to perform my own “mock autopsy.” Casting my body and building the physical components of my anatomy piece by piece. A silicone skin is filled with artificial musculature, creating a sickly transparency, reminiscent of a corpse.
“Anatomy is our inner reality; anatomy is us. Even if we haven’t studied the anatomy formally, we carry around an anatomical image of self – a pocket map that divides us into regions and terrains, with internal place names and borders” (Michael Sappol Death: A Graveside Companion p. 50). Focusing my work on the physical anatomy rather than the metaphysical idea of identity attempts to pay homage to historically significant methods of postmortem preservation and the practice of personifying death. My work is heavily influenced by death imagery in the seventeenth century, which incorporates a wittier, more whimsical depiction of death, appearing in theatre, dance, and literature as an artistically motivated educational practice. Anatomical artists in the seventeenth century “taught the moral and scientific truth of the human body, and they fooled around for no reason other than to have fun. Their illustrations and objects operated in multiple dimensions of meaning and function. The anatomists studied dissected cadavers, and enjoyed manipulating and presenting them; readers and viewers studied dissected cadavers, and enjoyed looking” (Michael Sappol Death: A Graveside Companion p. 51).
Working from reference images derived from antique anatomical reference books, medical websites, or personal images taken at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, I find anatomical accuracy to be an important factor in the construction of my sculptures. Although surrealism plays a significant role in my pieces, the uncanny nature of my work is brought about by the anatomical familiarity and viscerality of its construction.
Other influences include, but are not limited to Paul Thek, Joel Peter Witkin, Carolee Schneeman, and Heide Hatry. I am fascinated by the process of working with and alongside death on an extremely personal level. Challenging the ideas of repulsion, disgust, and fear that are so heavily associated with the process of dying becomes the primary focus of the work. After all, “The death of a beautiful woman is ‘unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world,’ decreed by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) in his essay ‘The Philosophy of Composition’ (1846)” (Michael Sappol Death: A Graveside Companion p. 29).
In conclusion, my body of work attempts to challenge the notion of preservation and the relentless march of time itself. Incorporating a surreal and visceral construction into my sculptures unveils the paradox of preserving memories and experiences in a world that perpetually evolves. My art stands as a testament to the futility of artificial stagnancy, embodying the decay of memory despite our desperate attempts to immortalize it. In a society increasingly driven by political commentary, my work strives to provide a unique perspective, embracing morbidity and inviting contemplation of the human lifecycle. By exploring the intricacies of anatomy and paying homage to historical depictions of death, I reflect on the inner reality of our existence. With my art, I intend to challenge our thinking and confront our inherent fear of death, reminding us that even in the face of mortality, there is beauty to be found.