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Nicola
Donovan
Sculpture / Figurative / Conceptual Clothing |
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Detail
from 'Marginal Red Hoods'
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'MARGINAL RED HOODS,
CORALLED BUT NOT COWED, FORM A SQUARE INSIDE A CIRCLE OF THE LAST REMAINING PLOT OF RUSTICA'
was generated from an interest in fairy tale characters, creepy thrillers, and stereotyping through dress codes. Red was chosen for its impact as well as associations with danger, sex, vitality, wickedness, and for its sumptuousness.
The Red Hoods form a red square, defending what they mistakenly believe to be 'Nature'; rough wood, hemp, slate. The poor things are consumers of an impossible ideal, they belong to a canon of destruction, deluded by the multinationals who flog them sustainable Rustica. (self portrait)
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Marginal
Red Hoods
Mixed Media incl:Latex, Felt, Feather, Slate. 100cm Dia x 80cm Height |
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EXPERIMENTS
OF GREAT HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Mixed Media incl: Leather, PVC, Fur, Brass, Mahogany 22cm x 22cm x 44cm (each case) |
Detail from
EXPERIMENTS OF GREAT HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
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Detail
from
EXPERIMENTS OF GREAT HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE |
'EXPERIMENTS OF GREAT HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE, CONDUCTED UNDER CONDITIONS OF EXTREME SECRECY'
began as an experiment in the studio to see if I could produce high heeled baby shoes that looked like baby shoes. This achieved, I began looking into some of the history of scientific, medical experiments, which is pretty grisly and contravenes many of today's human (and animal) rights.
The cases containing the shoes have their dimensions taken from modern laboratory rat cages, but the materials used are very different. The cases depicted are made from Brazilian mahogany and brass, and have china castors, the height of luxurious living.
The point is this: I wouldn't put it past some government agency somewhere to try developing a gene specifically to enable high heeled babies (male or female) to be born to those who wished it.
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Detail
from 'THE NEW NUCLEAR FAMILY' |
Contact: Nicola Donovan
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THE NEW NUCLEAR FAMILY
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'THE NEW NUCLEAR FAMILY' was made for an exhibition entitled 2001 SPACE DOUBT. Anxieties about the future of the species fuelled by, amongst other things, hushed up governmental fiddling with food, was a starting point for this piece. I imagined that we may all become hermaphrodites, which opens up a massive area of speculation about what would happen to gender relationships. The figures are constructed from silk organza, which has a translucent quality, and is greyish, which imbues the figures with ghostliness. They float above a defended patch of gravelled front garden, the territory marked by the presence of picket fencing. Breasts are embroidered directly onto the bodices, the male genitalia is partially concealed beneath a layer of skirt. These are embroidered with glow in the dark thread, thus all that is visible once the sun goes down are these primary and secondary sexual organs, plus the glow in the dark poll that sits at the base of each figure. |
