Through metaphor and analogy I try to present connections between seemingly disparate elements. The result is a highly personal history of the human body based on memory, experience, and (mis)understanding.
In the process of developing my work, I tend to make a lot of small drawings. They are not preparatory drawings, but rather an archive of images that reemerge in various forms throughout my drawings, paintings, prints, and installations. Absurd nose jobs, fictitious afflictions, superstitions, birthmarks, blemishes, and botanical studies are at once humorous and disturbing, evoking a sense of loss, fear, memory, and desire.
As each new drawing is completed, it is added to a wall in my studio that contains hundreds of small drawings. Over time, connections develop between images as they sit next to each other, across from one another, or on top of each other. Magnificent plants take root and grow from disembodied heads, hair turns into breath, breath turns into fountains, fountains turn into birds, and so on. These connections, or relationships, often lead to larger or more sustained projects.
Included in the exhibition is an installation of a selection of these small drawings. Pinned to the wall in groupings, the small drawings function much like incomplete sentences, visual memories, or transitory thoughts. The three larger works are inspired by 19th-century accounts of mesmerism, animal magnetism, and hypnosis.
Stas Orlovski
August 1999
