The Small of Her Lower Back (2019)
The Small of Her Lower Back explores how grieving, monument, and death are found through & within commonplace hardscape materials. By working through my own historical infatuation with grittiness and material labor, this exhibition offers up a conversation around how to make space for grief in everyday occurrences. Through the poetic materiality behind the clothes worn and habits projected by my late grandmother, Rita Gay, prior to her passing, combined with the artificial and sterile use of concrete/rebar/and synthetic fabric, this work demonstrates ways in which the viewer can connect with and find solace in these unconventionally empathetic materials.
From the re-sculpting and fabricating of industry-specific linen bags to the exploration of the brick as hand-held funerary object, this work reaches desperately to find connection and healing through repetitive habits. The resultant works centralize death in a studio practice that calls attention to how a relationship with a space and material can be reframed through close examination.
Thank you to Anytime Dept. Gallery (Cincinnati, OH)
