Bisected Reality
Concrete, Found Table, Steel, Cotton Cord, Polyester Cord
This installation is a combination of three body parts, a bust without a face, a lower body and feet. All separate yet linked. My inclusions of rusted metal and corded material are symbolic of the structural tension we hold, the tangled memories of past experience, the relationship we have with ourselves relative to the outside world and our ability to morph and adapt our internal landscape, while maintaining this rigid concrete shell.
While exploring these ideas behind bodily memory and identity, I have been thinking about the changes I have seen to the foundational roots in our society. Despite our current administration's best efforts our patriarchal society is beginning to unravel, leaving men and women to redefine what it means to be a man. The ropes reflect this grasping nature for stability, while the concrete foot is heavy to remain unchanged. If fascia holds memory, how can we begin to unwind the embedded memory of a patriarchal society?
It is not my intention to make this piece political, but more to provoke thought about how we can let go of the identities that we have so strictly assigned ourselves. Some of these identities may be inflicted upon us by society and others may be our own internal dialogue. The bust here is not the act of letting go, but of becoming…becoming what I am not sure… and that's the wonderful thing about being human, we can be flexible while still rooted in our past.
The legs sit just opposite of the feet and across from the bust, the feet and legs seem to be almost the antithesis of each other. The cords loosely fall, while the leg is rigid with its metal structure. Here, I want to convey this idea that while we may be in the act of becoming, we can still be firmly rooted in who we once were. We can rely on the memories to give integrity to the person we are becoming… as Ernest Hemmingway said, “ The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places”.
Seen as a whole, we as a society and as individuals are all in the process of deconstructing and reconstructing ourselves again and again. We can be rooted in our past, but still expand beyond the limitations that are imposed upon us. Susan Long states, “the scattering and redistribution of bodily parts is the antithesis of the body as a functional tool and the body as still life, the classical nude.”
We are more than just the titles and identities that we assign ourselves and by looking at these individual parts, I hope you question the stories you and others have told you about yourself.
