Type 1 Statement

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My practice engages themes of assumption, expectation, seduction and the abject body.  I investigate my relationship to my body and its implications in the world through material exploration and abnormal forms.  I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when I was four years old.  As someone with an autoimmune disease, I am constantly aware of the inner workings of the body; I hope to bring this level of awareness to the viewer.  By working with homemade hard candy, Jell-O and spent medical supplies, I seek to challenge the audiences’ expectations as I create bizarre sculptures that are humorous, ironic, childlike and disturbing all at once.  

 

Using materials like candy, liquid plastic, Jell-O and various coloring techniques, I create jewel-like sculptures comprised of hundreds of molds.  I utilize my used Autosoft 90 Infusion Sets in order to create these molds.  The Autosoft 90 Infusion Sets insert a cannula in my body where the insulin I administer enters; I use one set every three days and have done so since I was six years old. The infusion sets are both integrated with and foreign to my body. The gem-like exterior of the molds seduces the viewer into coming closer to contemplate – what exactly are these sculptures?   The discarded bodily medical material the mold is made from creates distinct contrast to the beautiful exterior.  I ask the viewer to consider their own possible preconceived expectations and to question why they might find the sculptures straddling a line between alarming and beautiful.  

 

The sculptures are simultaneously playful and twisted, seductive and repulsive based on their outer appearance and deeper meaning.  Candy is a humorous material wrapped up in irony and resent.  I have a complicated relationship with candy. On one hand, it is something I know I cannot eat all of the time; however, I also rely on sugar heavily when my blood sugar is low.  Jell-O, a “clear liquid food,” is often administered in hospitals and conjures memories of sickness.  Its confusing consistency and disappointing flavor emphasize the repulsive nature of the enlarged Autosoft 90 Infusion Set sculpture.  The degenerative forms that are entangled amongst the sculptures parallel the way that the insulin I administer breaks down sugar in the blood.