The mangle

Here are some photographs I took with the mangle. I have done some tests and believe it will work as a sculptural piece, mangling ivy and peacock feathers drenched in gin. The concepts dealt with in this sculptural piece are lack of luck and the idea of trying to wash poison out, squeeze poison out but it still being there, tangled. The peacock feathers symbolise glamour and also the concept of unluckiness. Gin works again, as another form of poison, dragging down the peacock feathers, hinting at addiction. I have also made films that will follow. I have mangled soil and sequins, materials I have previously worked with, that hint at the ideas of burial and glamour.

Artists Statement

This work began with a poem. 

A poem that explores the tension between being in control and being out of control. It explores a loss, a darkness, a shedding of a skin. It encapsulates memory, a sense of escape, of burial, of a poison bubbling beneath the surface.

The tension between things changing and things staying the same.

This work began with a poetic narrative and this is expressed through the use of tactile materials, hoping to appeal to the senses. A glamorous edge, hinting at a past life, juxtaposed with a domestic grubbiness.

Although this work is set in the past, containing many historical elements, the human traits and struggles of destruction, desperation and addiction are still relevant today. Many of us can recognise the tensions visible within this work. 

Experimental photographs

The following photographs again look at the concept of "shedding skin", but also at the idea of submersion. They are taken through an old brown glass, which again could be viewed as a layer of skin. The blurred distortion of the photographs also deal with the idea of memory and how that distorts over time. They are buried beneath a surface of old brown glass, a historical object, but the images lurking beneath the surface still visible.

Experiments with the concept of "Shedding Skin"

The following photographs document my work involving the concept of "Shedding Skin". It is an important concept in my poem.

I first experimented with different tools and the effect these tools have on wood and leather. I collected the dust and this analysis helped me to come to the conclusion that I was going to use a variety of tools with this work.

I began working on the chair, shedding its skin.

I liked the way the wood peeled. I liked hacking away at the chair. I received feedback that the inside of the chair looked like the muscles inside the body.

I liked the way the leather wore down, creating new patterns on the "skin". I purposely sliced diagonally inwards from the bottom left and corner and pulled the stuffing out.

I liked the patterns created by the dust when working. I did some experimental photography which I will show later.

The glamorous edge to this sculpture are the dancing shoes displayed above, which themselves look as if they are shedding their skin.

I experimented with close up of the worn leather and the chair.