Sophia

School of Art – MFA1 – Fine Art

This work explores the sensation of the loss of touch. A web of paracord weaves across the space, with hands strung throughout, gesturing towards the viewers below. Some hands lie just out of reach; capturing the moment right after touch is relinquished, but the warmth of that presence remains- haunting the skin like ghosts of physical connection. Other hands dangle low enough for interaction, inviting the viewer to engage with the physicality of the materials and thus experience the sensation of artificial touch from a fragmented body.

The slabs of silicone throughout the metal sculpture reference a desire to preserve that point of contact so that the memory can never be washed away, and found objects throughout the piece carry the echoes of touch through their original functions for bodily support. Through this, the sculpture becomes an assemblage of the human body, a separate sentient being with a memory of its history and an understanding of its relationship to the material world.

https://sites.google.com/view/sophiabeallart