Shed Skin
Shed Skin, steel, film, brush, stool, 210 x 85 x 85cm
Shed Skin references the importance of physical contact for human and animal wellbeing. The sides of the steel skeleton are enclosed with net-printed film. Inside a 30 x 85cm brush is positioned facing a high stool. Touch and massage are important factors in treating trauma held in the skin. The rejuvenating brush increases circulation and promotes a sense of calm.
Press Pause
Press pause, steel, 180 x 80 x 80cm
The steel enclosure with hinged door, viewing grille and stool is reminiscent of a cell or confessional. Alluding to mental fatigue, the purpose is to provide a space in which to unburden. Working as a Faraday cage, electromagnetic fields are blocked preventing mobile communication. Once inside the atmosphere is comforting, the sound is both muffled and amplified. We are encouraged to quieten the senses in the altered environment. From this vantage point we can observe the bustle of life outside knowing that we are obscured behind the metal grille and have paused in our participation. It is not a sensory deprivation space but a place to escape from sensory overload.
Hold Still
220cm x 70cm x 75cm
Steel, glass, wool, polyester, swing, film
This shelter adopts the aesthetic of 1950s medical apparatus with particular reference to Wilhelm Reich’s Orgone Accumulator. In the form of a cabinet, it was designed to absorb and conduct biological energy through alternating layers of wool and steel onto a concentrated inner surface where this energy could then be passed to an occupying body. This raised energy level was capable of unblocking a trauma or attacking an illness. Although imprisoned for making fraudulent claims, Reich’s contribution was honest, accessible and perhaps at odds with the then burgeoning predilection with pills and medication. Elements of this research have been adapted to construct Hold Still in which such an energy transfer is possible, not to necessarily treat an illness but to act as a catalyst.
Hold Still, steel, wool, swing, privacy film, 206 x 70 x 75cm
This re-purposed data server cabinet stands for the body as machine, a container of information. Inside the walls resemble theatrical curtains and the seat provided is a swing whose momentum is restricted by the tight confines. The door is coated in mirrored privacy film with a tiny spy-hole promoting a power play between viewer and occupant.
Artificial Nacre
Artificial nacre, (2020)
Controlled oxidation/silver mirroring on recycled X-ray
24cm x 30cm
In Plain Sight
