Things That Last
Project Description: Things that Last is an exhibition of rubber sculptures that embody the psychoanalytic concept of second skin, which I define broadly as defense mechanisms.
I created the second skin sculpture in organic rubber because rubber's qualities resemble the long-lasting psychological effects of defense mechanisms. Defense mechanisms, like rubber, can stretch and protect and are similar to the milky secretion of the rubber plant, which does not decompose quickly. Rubber disposal is a serious environmental concern and is difficult to eliminate. Defense mechanisms, like rubber, are equally hard to get rid of, they are Things That Last.
Project 1: Second Skin. I made thirty-seven 6" pieces of clothing from natural rubber. Using a knitting pattern book for baby, youth, and adult clothing, I copied the example drawings onto my material and roughly seamed them together.
The stitching technique I used symbolized the speed and infirmity of slapping on a second skin to adjust to harmful situations in life. Despite the age represented, all the sculptures are the same size because the human defense mechanism knows no age.
Wooden dowels secure the garments onto shelves which are attached to the wall.
Project 2: Extending the skin I poured organically shaped rubber puddles onto the floor. Once dried, I shaped the layers into giant, three-dimensional human-like puppets. As I made these puppets, they lay in my lap like spineless beings. Therefore, I took a curved manzanita branch, gave them a backbone, stuffed them and brought them to life. I painted one puppet (Scarlett) red and pink and kept the other ( Blanche) the rubber color. I adorned them with glass beads, masking and amplifying their scars inherent to the process of the poured materials.
That night, I dreamed Scarlett and Blanche were standing by a lake and squatting in the water. I associated the water with unresolvable tears and replicated the lake of unresolvable tears by filling two demijohns with water. I hollowed-out an oak tree stump, secured the demijohns in their and displayed the large puppets squatting over the demijohns.
Project 3: Scarlett and Blanche's identity I found the giant puppets so bewildering that I hid them in my studio for months. They were large, scarred, and beautiful, with developing identities.
Recalling the children's game of telephone, I collaborated with twelve international women to create a chapter for the story of these puppets.
Once one woman wrote a chapter, she gave it to the next person who wrote the next chapter, and so on. Each woman whispered the entire story into a camera focused on her mouth. The final piece was a projection of all 12 mouths whispering simultaneously in a light echo throughout the exhibition. There was also a set of headphones where participants could listen to me reading the story. In addition, the text was printed on the wall.
Project 4: Skin Scars, two light sculptures I mounted two 36" x 36" rubber sheets onto stretcher bars. Behind the frames, a white neon light illuminated the scarred skin, signifying long-lasting memories.
Project 5: Polymorphous Perversity Contrasting the scarred sculptures is a 6" x 6" painting of a newborn child discovering its toes for the first time.
