Dermis, 2022
Seventh Gallery, Richmond
Dermis repositions the sacred within the profane as a gesture of alteration and transformation, in
relation to the female and other body. Abject, tumbling, heavy flesh transformed into sacred object,
monolith.
I work with the latex, painting on and then peeling back, stretching and pulling. There is an ongoing
tension in Dermis between fixing and breaking, layering and tearing away; a morphing, living organ.
Embedded in the layers of latex are old prints of mine, and family heirlooms of lace fabric inherited
from my great grandmother. The latex acts as an embalmer, preserving these objects in its folds. The
family heirlooms are an ongoing presence in my work, responding to ideas of trauma and upbringing.
The Mary’s are made using soap and wax, and over time have begun to crumble and break apart, some
have been washed smooth. These create a shrine of broken offerings.
Dermis embraces crumbling, unruly, bulging materials and forms in defiance of the Christian notions of the perfect, functional, reproductive female body.
Photography: Teagan Ramsay
Seventh Gallery, Richmond
Dermis repositions the sacred within the profane as a gesture of alteration and transformation, in
relation to the female and other body. Abject, tumbling, heavy flesh transformed into sacred object,
monolith.
I work with the latex, painting on and then peeling back, stretching and pulling. There is an ongoing
tension in Dermis between fixing and breaking, layering and tearing away; a morphing, living organ.
Embedded in the layers of latex are old prints of mine, and family heirlooms of lace fabric inherited
from my great grandmother. The latex acts as an embalmer, preserving these objects in its folds. The
family heirlooms are an ongoing presence in my work, responding to ideas of trauma and upbringing.
The Mary’s are made using soap and wax, and over time have begun to crumble and break apart, some
have been washed smooth. These create a shrine of broken offerings.
Dermis embraces crumbling, unruly, bulging materials and forms in defiance of the Christian notions of the perfect, functional, reproductive female body.
Photography: Teagan Ramsay