sigh

2016
Sculpture / Installation

Curated by Denise Markonish
Commissioned and produced by Artpace San Antonio
Additional funding support by Arts Nova Scotia

 

Sigh is a 40’ X 13’ digital collection of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets chosen from blood I collected and scanned using a Scanning Electron Microscope magnified 10,000 times.  The samples were collected during my art residency at Dalhousie Medical School, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. The final large format image is printed on taffeta and moves according to my breath, generated by a controlled air system unit.  I consider it a universal blood group and includes people from different ages, backgrounds, ethnic groups, sexual orientations, and of course blood types. Irregularities and abnormalities are due to disease, dehydration, anemia, blood disorders, technical malfunctions, imperfect preparations, or just being human.

These works are part of a larger project called Blood Work. It began with my mother’s diagnosis of ovarian cancer and her blood transfusions.

Curatorial Essay:
I Carry You With My Blood, Denise Markonish, 2016.

Documentation credits:
(video) Sharad Patel, (night time photos) Adam Schreiber, (daytime photos) Kim Morgan