Breathing Space is the first part of a trilogy, an
exhibition which will continue with Inhale in 2007 and Exhale
in 2008.
Breathing Space explores the invisible life force that
surrounds us at a time where we are mere ideas of Being. A time
I call the ‘preparatory void’, where the act of involuntary
breathing is yet to occur.
My models are female. We interact. We talk, laugh, share lengthy
pauses, exchange views and breathe together in the same space.
The sculptures encompass the model’s energy at that moment
in time. Perhaps the model’s emotion and energy combines
with mine. Either way it is a charged experience for both of
us. As I sculpt their heads, where the idea of Being exists,
an expression of anticipation emerges.
I begin to sculpt the movement of the hair in an attempt to
feel the air, the invisible life force that is the Breathing
Space, which moves around the heads.
It is in this instance, the realisation comes… although
I can capture the illusion of Breathing Space, through
the movement of the hair, I cannot contain it. It continues to
move around the work, a controlled and transubstantiated vital
energy, a circulation of breath and creation, both mental and
seminal.
By now, I have no desire to capture it. Any attempt to do so would be akin to holding ones breath, a cessation of the moment and the energy. Breath dies the moment we capture it. We exhale moments after we inhale them. Life begins and ends within these moments. We Inhale (exhibition 2007), by receiving the Divine Gift…we Exhale (exhibition 2008), thus returning the Divine Gift to its Owner. The Gift remains imperishable.
Sculptures cast in sanguine resin
The concept of ‘Breathing Space’ is further explored with the addition of an auditory element. The actual sound of the human breath is accompanied by wind instruments. By now, the singular action of individual breathing gains its plurality and position in the Cosmos. The all-encompassing forces of nature and the artwork become one, replenishing the space, the Breathing Space…
