For Internal and External Use Only //
TOB1, Spur F, Reading School of Art, February 2022.
This body of work has developed from my previous exploration into the Botulinum toxin. I have since progressed beyond the literal idea of a poisonous substance entering the body. The conceptual adaptations ‘for external and internal use only’ are a synthesis of previous influences. I continued to explore formations in the female reproductive system and the existence of dangerous things in the absence of vital things. Of course, it is difficult to describe the absence of something, without saying the opposite. I feel my work has lost certain diagrammatic elements. It no longer seeks to be understood, only felt symptomatically. It has mutated to become more acceptable; as it remains to co-exist with the space it inhabits. It will not be drawn attention to, as long as it does not cause disruption. It is very much the elephant in the room. It is important for me to fill space incongruously, yet aesthetically convulsive.
In order to investigate my interests further, this project has been process driven. Following my last exhibition piece, I aimed to expand the space that the paper sculpture evolves in. And so the cyclical nature of folding a piece of paper, cutting a shape and fixing it onto the wall became embedded in my studio practice. By replacing and rearranging cut outs in an obsessive and trancelike manner, the flow was uninterrupted. Again, I relied on the activity of my studio wall as a constant source of inspiration and reformation of shape and texture.
The work that I have been producing in order to articulate the instinctive need to expand and perfect has been diverse. However, I have remained within the realms of paper. I have introduced overhead projection in order to expose my physical installations to the unreal elements of image reproduction. As a way of merging objective realities and rejecting the gestures of symmetry that the paper cut outs deliver. Forcing something tangible to be shrouded by something false, illusionary and temporary. I was able to achieve a similar doubling effect through the manipulation of imagery in the dark room. Processing photograms enhanced the imperfect symmetry of these shape explorations – but also illuminated the causation of unforeseen outcomes.
It became apparent that the work I was creating resembled the idea of the way something looks if it’s in the wrong place.
Hans Belmers’ dedication to the artificial being aka The Doll or Die Puppe is a ‘violent attack’ on someone else’s ideals of beauty. It holds the mirror up to its true distortion. It is his idealist mockery and that served me as a constant source of inspiration. Like my process, Belmers continuous assembly and disassembly represents the fluidity between internal and external qualities of the female form. I want the space I provide for the viewer to be instantly immunised by what inhabits it. These carefully constructed yet disparate elements can also be likened to the work of Ӧyvind Fahlstrӧm. Particularly in his written work about the way in which he manipulates the word through The Cold War series, 1965. There is an emphasis on the 2D materials he uses and how when they become ‘fixed and tangible, almost “live” as an object, yet as flat as a painting.’ This spoke to me. He goes on to say that ‘their character changes with each new arrangement.’ Another key element in Fahlstrӧms’ work that inspired my exhibition piece was spectator as performer. By introducing interchangeable sheets, multiple combinations materialised according to both the audience’s choices and the ones I imposed on them. Both of these artists create work as a model for the balance of terror. My work aims to balance individual freedom with aesthetic acquiescence. My investigation into furthering the architectural qualities of paper sculpture has allowed me to engage with the visceral and the uncanny. I have discovered that miscommunication can be communicated clearly. And that a dark room can shine light on what is otherwise unseen…
CONNIE HOPE 