sniff #1
I love the sensory world, and sensory motifs.
Hands, eyes, ears, mouths, noses… the parts / portals where the external and internal worlds pass through, linger, are expelled and injested. Sniff #1 is a play with body parts using wool, wood wire and fungus (my go-to sustainable materials).
sniff #1 is a selection of wall-mounted sculptures that can be exhibited on most gallery walls.
Primarily, this collection is a celebration of noses in all their varieties.
Secondarily, these objects are made in a moment in time, one that cannot be ignored.
I was drawn to break from my colour palette (white fawn taupe chocolate and black - colours that are natural to sheep wool). I was drawn to The Matrix. The theatrical, ethical, philosophical mechanism to choose between ‘the red pill or the blue pill’. I spent a long while in the fabulous World of Wool shop selecting the closet shades.
It became apparent that this visual metaphor had been co-opted by The Manosphere. At the same time a vile kind of Nationalism cements itself into seats of power. Aggressions I thought we’d left in the 70s, that we’d fought and won, those aggression are taking up bandwidth.
To be clear, racism, xenophobia, victimisation, hate, othering - are toxic and corrosive. This is how we destroy our country. To act with unity, to spread kindness liberally, is how we grow stronger communities, businesses, vision, and futures. We build each other up!
So while the sniff#1 collection is curious and playful. I can visualise works from this and other collections that are already a base to approach this subject.
