return to Biography
My work explores a comparison of knowledge with the corporeal, using objects to reference the assumed associations of knowledge with power and the body with vulnerability. The images present and question the dualistic relationship of desire/transformation and power/gender, creating a tension between the body as a product of language and knowledge with that of the physical, mortal body.
I use found objects, and transformed objects, and even objects of make believe...the tree branch, antlers, the corbel, and the animal enclosure …to examine myths, symbols and old stories. Structures and environments for the stories are staged. Yet shape, scale, materiality, and surface are key considerations for the objects as they evoke visual metaphors relating to the body. The antlers must be worn, the enclosure entered. Yet always key to the objects are their gender associations.
I use found objects, and transformed objects, and even objects of make believe...the tree branch, antlers, the corbel, and the animal enclosure …to examine myths, symbols and old stories. Structures and environments for the stories are staged. Yet shape, scale, materiality, and surface are key considerations for the objects as they evoke visual metaphors relating to the body. The antlers must be worn, the enclosure entered. Yet always key to the objects are their gender associations.
Cole: study 1, digital image, 2010