“I first saw a picture of the anatomical wax model of a woman with pearls in a guidebook on Vienna. She struck a chord in me. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. She seemed to contain all I wanted to say at that moment, about feeling gutted, displayed. Caught as an object of desire and horror at the same time. She also seemed relevant to me in terms of medical history, a gaping example of sexism in medicine. The perversity of those pearls, that long blond hair. I went on with this work even though it is gory and depressing because the images seem to reveal so much.”--Zoe Leonard, Journal of Contemporary ArtYou can read the whole article--which investigates the use and meaning of wax anatomical models in the work of contemporary artist Zoe Leonard--by clicking here.
Images from original post; Top: "Anatomical Model of a Woman’s Head Crying", 1993 , © Zoe Leonard; Bottom: "Wax Anatomical Model (Shot Crooked from Above)", 1990, © Zoe Leonard
1 comment:
Looks like she's crying about her fate, fated to be cut in half... I've been lurking on your blog for a while now, but just wanted to say, you are doing extraordinary work here. As the son of an anatomy professor, I particularly enjoy the memories your pieces produce for me... thank you...
Post a Comment