squirm

Solo Show at Gallery 1010
January 2020

The word “squirm” has an unknown etymology. We can only speculate on the philosophy of this word’s origin. “Squirm” seems to sit between the words “worm” and “swarm.” There is a community in the work presented, which relates to “swarm,” and also a vulgar singularity relating to “worm.” In a literal sense, the word “squirm” may derive from pain and writhing, as the work rests between a fluid action of injury and remedy. “Squirm” is known to be related with the word “contort,” which is how we react to pain. We either try to contort ourselves out of the pain, or we contort ourselves in a result of it. The viewer can see this contortion in the flesh-like paintings which seem to break through a type of sheath, pre-maturely showing vulnerable, undeveloped membrane. Anamorphosis can be seen in the mirror shards which seem to be broken from a whole, yet are reconstructed into a new coherence, and also the human hair that is detached from its host organism. This can be seen as a type of portal, shooting the viewer through layers that may be synonymous with our own psyche. The work toggles between a bodily grotesque and beautiful, which makes the viewer squirm, along with the work squirming within itself.