Folded Soul is one of a series of bronze and horsehair works inspired by the proposition that the skin is the site of the soul. We only know who and where we are because of the sensory apparatus that is our skin - it is where our soul and the world commingle. The philosopher Michel Serres wrote a great deal about the importance of skin and the sense of touch. He used textiles as his metaphor, which is unsurprising as they are the ultimate tactile material. Because of their tactility they are my preferred medium.
This sculpture of a creature whose only sensory organ is skin is meant to be touched. I have combined textiles and bronze to accentuate the tactile characteristics of both - hardness and softness, temperature differential, texture and weight. And I have used hair as my metaphor, for hair is a product of skin, growing from inside us out into the world. Hair is the perfect representation of the notion that our skin is the site of our soul.
bronze, horsehair, cotton
30 x 25 x 35 cm
Finalist
Judges of the 20th Anniversary Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize: Dr Lara Strongman (Director Curatorial and Digital, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia), Joanna Capon OAM (Art Historian, Curator and Industrial Archaeologist) and Jenny Kee AO (Artist and Fashion Designer).
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