Serie Encompass, Kohei, 2007

Colour Photografie on paper

70 x 55 cm edition 3

2009 BIG SHOW, Galeria Metta, Spain

In recent years I have concentrated on how objects occupy the spaces surrounding them. Many of my sculptures are created from delicate and rich materials including velvet and brocade which confer a powerful impact. In other sculptures the use of less powerful materials such as felt and satin allow the viewer to concentrate on the iconography of the image.

In my work there are two constants both connected to the study of perception. The first is purely sensory and is based on the evocative strength of the particular material such as the richness of brocade. The second is my attempt to demonstrate the conflict between public and private, interior and exterior, and local versus global factors.

I am interested in forms that reflect the complexity of feelings, ideas, memories, thoughts and problems occurring inside a human being. Sometimes I want to reach the interior and make it visible because these thoughts and/or problems become so big or so obsessive that we are not allowed any room to move. Occasionally some problems and/or thoughts enclose us, encompass us and don't allow us to see; as occurs in my first work of this series, (Head, 2007). I am interested in the need to project our thoughts and memories physically; for me, it is then that our thoughts and memories become objects around us. In addition, I am interested in showing how we are able to carry on a change that is unavoidable and how this change then interacts with the body. For example, a dress that is put on and can be taken off can begin to belong to, and control our life. I emphasize the fact that these clothes create an interesting visual effect but can also evoke a sense of claustrophobia by using large fabric tentacles filled with synthetic wool.

We move with our thoughts, our memories, our problems and our obsessions and in this way, they become our accessories.