Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Organic Flesh Machine in Public!



















The four paintings in the Organic Flesh Machine series will be appearing for the first time in public this week. They will be appearing at Anglian Art Fair as part of the portfolio of work being presented by Ovenden Contemporary Art.

The process of creating these works is in itself surgical. In order to embed the components and other objects into the canvas I use a scalpel blade. The act of cutting the "flesh" of the canvas induces a strange mixture of feelings, liberation, perversity, guilt and power. In cutting the canvas and implanting the objects into the surface I am taking it to another level giving it a third dimension and a new life. Subsequent work on the canvas involves mending the torn "flesh" of the canvas. At times this reconstruction is akin to a process of healing.

In the final sculpture the surgical combination of machine and flesh are realised. Is this a visage of surgical enhancement, medical necessity or sadistic torture?