Flesh

Flesh – Installation, sculptures of pink soapstone, 2004/07, each 16x17cm

The Destruction of the Imperfect

Corrections to the body are all the rage. Cosmetic operations bring  assaults on the body by surgical instruments as incisions in the skin destroy nature’s own materials in a bid to construct the ideal body.
The imperfections of reality are removed by what has become known as shaping and styling. And it’s not just women who are lured by these buzzwords. In order to escape what are seen as the horrors of earthly reality, of this all too fleeting present, we try to transform imperfection into perfection. There is no longer room for anything less than perfect.
In future the gap between rich and poor will become a gap between the beautiful and the ugly. Those with money will be able to follow the fashions while those without will be left out of the race.
Life on this earth is inevitably imperfect and has a corresponding multiplicity of facets and faces. Surely we can open our hearts and accept this endless variety as it was created.