The human body is like a carefully woven structure, a meticulously composed system in which one unit does not function in isolation from another but rather interacts and responds synergistically with one or more corollary units. Since the beginning of time, humans have interpreted life in many ways, with souls, bodily functions and ideologies intertwined to shape our understanding of life.
My work explores the interrelationships between the body's sensory, life-support and structural systems by translating them into knitted, silicone and wool materials.
In illustrating the sensory systems, I use knitting techniques and mohair fibers to represent the delicate network of the nervous system. For the life-sustaining systems, needle felting and knitting are used to shape and texture the organs. In the structural systems, mesh materials convey the flexibility of the skin and the robustness of the bones. choosing varied white yarn to reflect the natural colors of human systems because most color differences in anatomical models are interpretive and serve as visual reinforcement. Since many systems are actually ivory or pale yellow, I chose to use projection instead of applying color directly, emphasizing that the colors were used to seeing are externally added.
With overlapping forms and materials, my work considers the human body in all its complexity as an instrument of experience, memory and emotion. We may wish to convey a deeper experience of the body as more than a physical mechanism, but something that supports and carries us, helping us to connect with our surroundings and the flow of time.
Material: wool, wool yarn, boning
