Dissolution at Vane, Gateshead
July - August 2023
‘Dissolution’ is a new body of work that turns to the boundaries of ‘body’ and ‘self’, asking how we conceive of our wholeness, or lack thereof, and negotiate our edges.
The work considers the gap between the concept of the human and its body as a whole – singular and discrete, with the reality of it as a shifting, unbounded and porous organism. Drawing from research into aspects of human culture such as washing, grooming and hygiene practices, clothing and textile production, these histories and related myth and folklore are interwoven with the personal and intimate. Ideas of cleanliness, purity, and ritual meet memories of physicality, religion, gender and sexuality.
Comprising paintings on paper, cloth articles and sculptural objects, the creatures begin to don garments, shapeshift and engage with other beings. Objects and hangings wrought in cloth, clay and papier-mâché coexist, as if belongings, pets or
artefacts.
