Recently, my work has shifted from adorning the figure to focusing on the internal workings of the human body- specifically when it is infected by a virus. Varicella Zoster is most commonly known as Chicken Pox.
Working on a macro scale, I've been visually documenting the incubation of the virus in the body. Did you know that the body incubates Varicella for 10-12 before it reaches the skin (and becomes contagious)? And it takes 14 days of incubation before skin lesions appear.
With so many childhood vaccinations, it is so difficult to catch chicken pox naturally that parents are going through great lengths to infect their children with the virus. --Even sending saliva soaked lollipops through the mail. (more on this in a later entry. But this is what sparked my interest on the virus.)
A childhood rite of passage is being extinguished. While there are certainly serious cases of chicken pox, most of stayed in bed for a week while mom covered us in chamomile lotion and read us our favorite books.
After many long nights of cutting, pinning, and sewing, I was able to complete approximately 120 of these little viruses. At least, that was where my last count was. It could be more. Each pillow is an abstracted form of the Varicella Zoster Virus.
Last week I installed a new work for the Faculty Biennial at the University of New England Art Gallery. For this installation, I decided to take a slightly different approach to my planning process. As I was sketching out this basic form in my sketchbook, I found myself wondering just how I was going to install this work in the gallery. I mean, I knew that I would use pins (there's a pocket installed in the back of every virus structure. But how could I get this thing up on the wall without making it some crazy ordeal?
The solution was photoshop. So I hopped onto my computer and turned my sketch into a digital collage of viruses. I could also better estimate my overall scale- which ended up being almost 3 feet longer than initially planned. And after using photoshop to help me visualize the arrangement of the work, I projected my image against the wall to use as a pattern during installation.
Whew. This made everything so easy.
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