(Laid Out & Put Away series)
Cast ceramic & acrylic furniture 2019

Exhibited at 44AD Bath & RWA Bristol 2019
Installed at Emerge Studios, Sion Hill Campus Bath Spa University since 2020

Taking the concept of a ‘body of work’ literally, ‘Body As Evidence’ catalogs anthropometric data and explores the limitations of traditional sizing systems for women based on idealised proportional relationships and how this commoditisation of women epitomises the consumerist nature of our society.

Investigating the changing size, shape & composition of my own body, I have begun to realise that size is relative and the measures we use have not remained the same. Clothing has size inflation to match portion creep in what we eat so we can delude ourselves as a nation that we are not getting fatter.

The two series – Laid Out & Put Away – question customs & social decorum for display of the female form; how this affects personal identity and how we categorize ourselves & store our beliefs about beauty, entrenched in the folds of our clothes.

Exploring the properties of clay & ceramic is core to the work, contrasting pliability & stretch with rigidity & fragility, reflecting the physical & emotional states of the body & mind at different stages in life. The use of high gloss shop display style acrylic plinths for the work contrasts strongly with the traditionality of ceramic used since the first Venus figurines. Further referencing plays between domestic furniture and archivist glazed display cabinets with specimin-filled drawers.