Hand Stitched (2015)

As children we often explore the materiality of the body; picking at scabs, printing the patterns of a grazed knee on a tissue, even wrapping elastic bands around fingers and watching them turn blue. This method of enquiry which is repressed throughout adulthood intrigues me. The juxtaposition of the innocence, playfulness and inquisitive nature of childhood against the mortality of the body is a powerful concept; when reflecting back to the moments in childhood where these enquiries took place, I realise that they are not totally noticed or valued. In response to this notion I stitched hair through the top layer of skin on my hand. It became a meditative act whereby the experience of time altered. By taking an act experienced in childhood and pushing it into adulthood, the change of context means that the way this act is read alters. This fascinates me. Learned social rules and repressed behaviours inform the views we have have. I belong to the generation that was aware of the introduction of the internet, therefore I am aware of how virtual realities in the form of social media have become a part of our landscape. With so many of us living our lives online we are becoming more and more detached from our physical material selves. To experience each other physically is a powerful but overlooked aspect of our lives; which is diminishing through a language of emoji symbols and virtual conversations. Usually the screen of a tv is the portal to another place. A way of escaping our everyday lives. Also, the photograph is often associated as a portal to connect with past memories. Ironically I realise that I am using the screen and photograph in contrast to this, using it to make the physical now even more present in people’s mind; an experience in which the viewer becomes hyper-aware of their own body.