Skinned – polyester, polyurethane, wood, silicone and participants – life-size – 2018

Skinned is a new work created for Double Bind 2018 – a unique group show which allocates each artist to another from the exhibition and asks them to respond to that person’s work.

This piece is my response to the work of Melbourne artist Kerry Leonard and his Masters research into experiencing art through touch and the ability of the haptic sense to “offer a fresh perception and perspective of ourselves through the prism of art”.

I’m drawn to the way in which Kerry’s spatially driven practice explores “what the hand is able to know” by challenging our reliance on ocular recognition and focusing perception through touch as the primary means of interaction with his artwork. The title ‘Skinned’ refers to both the sensory organ that encapsulates our corporeal existence (i.e. we are all skinned…) and also to a process of exposure and self-revelation. The object itself is a secondary relic of a procedure that explores the compulsion of the haptic by enticing the viewer to touch, prod, peel and reveal.

“The flesh is the surface of the unknown”
Victor Hugo