Linda Findlay acrylic on board "H.I.V."I have been working with images that are biological for a few years and am aware that there is now a real explosion of that kind of imagery.
Today I attended a show by the painter Linda Findlay called Soluable at Jacana Gallery. I was confronted by imagery of disease that was painted in the most joyful and luminescent colours . Small globular viruses suspended in radiant blues, yellows oranges and reds. All compelling and pretty until concious thought remembered the potential horror being viewed. “Smallpox”, “Ebola” and ” Hep C “ all reminded me of candy wrappers or hip marketing posters. The contrast was alarming and startling. See www.jacanagallery.com
I use cellular imagery and images of bodily destruction and injury. Sometimes I use images of cells, other animals and plants. Some of my pieces include the series” blood, water, salt , rot” and “Flesh”. I am attracted to the visceral and have also worked with animal gut to make a series of samplers.
Vivian Zuba's show The Strange Beauty Project ” is featuring her textiles and photographs next month at the Blackberry Gallery at the Port Moody Arts Center. Her work draws heavily on the same kind of subject matter and considers the beauty of scar tissue, disease and injury similar to my own. Check out www.zuba-art.com.
Why has illness and disease become a metaphor in so many creations lately?
I just read Susan Sontag's essay “Illness as Metaphor “ and I realize that this issue has been considered for a long time in poetry and story telling. More recently it has moved into the art world and into textiles. None so extreme as Gunther von Hagen in the Body Worlds exhibition.
It is clear that we have the luxury to consider these methaphors now because of the very science that is exploring the cures. The images we see are available to anyone because of the equipment used to help cure the diseases. We can look at every part of our body from views unthinkable a few years ago. There is now an ability to view into our very cells and DNA. It threatens to become cliche to talk about the body without considering how it is understood.
If we choose to use disease as a methaphor for horror, for deeper meaning, for transition and other ideas let us also consider that we are mortal and each image represents suffering.
Today I attended a show by the painter Linda Findlay called Soluable at Jacana Gallery. I was confronted by imagery of disease that was painted in the most joyful and luminescent colours . Small globular viruses suspended in radiant blues, yellows oranges and reds. All compelling and pretty until concious thought remembered the potential horror being viewed. “Smallpox”, “Ebola” and ” Hep C “ all reminded me of candy wrappers or hip marketing posters. The contrast was alarming and startling. See www.jacanagallery.com
I use cellular imagery and images of bodily destruction and injury. Sometimes I use images of cells, other animals and plants. Some of my pieces include the series” blood, water, salt , rot” and “Flesh”. I am attracted to the visceral and have also worked with animal gut to make a series of samplers.
Vivian Zuba's show The Strange Beauty Project ” is featuring her textiles and photographs next month at the Blackberry Gallery at the Port Moody Arts Center. Her work draws heavily on the same kind of subject matter and considers the beauty of scar tissue, disease and injury similar to my own. Check out www.zuba-art.com.
Why has illness and disease become a metaphor in so many creations lately?
I just read Susan Sontag's essay “Illness as Metaphor “ and I realize that this issue has been considered for a long time in poetry and story telling. More recently it has moved into the art world and into textiles. None so extreme as Gunther von Hagen in the Body Worlds exhibition.
It is clear that we have the luxury to consider these methaphors now because of the very science that is exploring the cures. The images we see are available to anyone because of the equipment used to help cure the diseases. We can look at every part of our body from views unthinkable a few years ago. There is now an ability to view into our very cells and DNA. It threatens to become cliche to talk about the body without considering how it is understood.
If we choose to use disease as a methaphor for horror, for deeper meaning, for transition and other ideas let us also consider that we are mortal and each image represents suffering.
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