Thesis
Vivum Excoriari- MFA Thesis Exhibition
My inspirations for this body of sculpture are implements of torture and antique tools. I am interested in the relationship between historical value and psychological response; the push and pull of the terrible and beautiful. I am exploring the emotive substance of the objects by choosing implements that evoke an emotional and psychological response.
I am obsessed with objects that crush, grasp, cut, constrict, and bind such as axes, meat hooks and, most recently, medieval torture devices. I find them simultaneously beautiful and unsettling. These objects express themselves so clearly as a threat through their form, allowing the viewers to instantly recognize the purpose of the implement and relate it to their own bodies. I find beauty in the straightforward honesty of the object - it does not pretend to be anything other than itself. Through this body of work I want to communicate both visually and psychologically the disturbing and horrific history of the object as well the beauty of the form.
