Repetitive Tablets

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on August 6, 2013 at 6:52pm

Curator’s Comments:  

 

Repetitive Tablets (Pills) is an enigmatically provocative piece, having the presence of an ancient remnant.  Slightly off square, the shape suggests a worn garment, or vaguely utilitarian textile.  I especially like the leathery skin like texture and color of the latex castings against the solid red ground. The uneven arrangement has a decidedly gestural sensibility, though not completely random. This work and the dotted mixed media piece titled Diagram of Plasters remind me of the collaged and sewn cattle tags in the assemblages of Howardena Pindell, and I’m wondering if you’re aware of her work and if she’s been a conscious influence?  But I’m also a bit unclear about the reference to pills in the title of this particular piece, while the direct visual representation of skin infections in other images has a visceral, emotional charge.  Plaster Hand is somewhere in between what I see as the cerebral abstractions versus the more macabre/disease oriented sensory pieces such as Infection, or the raw photograph Hand.  (Perhaps the photograph of your hand is included for context, and isn’t intended as a standalone work? ) Plaster Hand by contrast is gentle and vulnerable; the pale segmented pieces suggesting sustained damage against the red and blue bits inside the open palm.  The good amount of white negative space around the hand further adds to the feeling of almost quiet desperation, as the white space can be interrupted as visual rest or clinical alienation.