“Dressed meat” is made entirely of salt-cured, stitched cow stomach. You are invited to enter inside of this cow stomach…trading places with the normal orientation of the cow inside of ours.It is an exploration that attempts to close the gap between our own existence with that of an animals…specifically animals that are ingested and become a part of our physical make-up.
hello everyone. my residency has come to an end. enclosed is a selection of work, accompanied by my artist statement, made in direct response to my experiences in cholul. none of this work is able to be shipped home because of u.s import regulations...maybe it is possible with a broker when i get home, but it is not hopeful. this work is experimental and this experience has been mind opening for the way that i approach my process within my work. i am really looking forward to getting into the studio when i return home. again, i would like to warn any one who would not like to see images surrounding the slaughter process that they may not want to proceed.
all my best to you and love for the new year approaching us.
and into my skin
cow hide, photos, foamcore
untitled
cow ears, nylon
torso
pig skin, nylon, metal wire
shawl
pig skin, nylon cord, metal wire
untitled
pig skin with nipple, nylon cord
3" x 3" x 2 1/2"
Living animals are killed in mass everyday in order to nourish our bodies. The association between the meat that is going into our mouths and the necessary slaughter procedure is a disturbing one to make. This process is kept hidden form our generation in most western cultures. Accessibility into the small slaughter community of Cholul provided opportunity to witness the experience of the animal and its manipulated transition from life to death. This body of work investigates my philosophical and emotional struggle between my reverence for the life of the animals whom provide us nourishment and my dismay at the fear and pain they experience before the moment of death.
***warning*** this entry contains images surrounding the slaughter and butchering of a cow, her decomposing flesh, flies and maggots. if this is something you do not want to see you may not want to proceed any further than the writing of the first two paragraphs.
For years i have been talking about the relationship between life and death through ceramic forms that have an appearance of soft, supple flesh, decomposing and crusting surfaces and oozing orifices. here i had the opportunity to witness and document a female cow being slaughtered and butchered. at the end i bought her skin, took it home, felt what it was like to work with her flesh and then watched the process of it breaking down.
in cholul, as i believe it to be true in most small village in mexico the slaughtering and butchering process happens behind a local market or in someones back yard. in this case it was behind the local fruit stand. men carried her fresh meat from the back yard into the fruit stand to be sold as soon as light broke...about 7:30 am. The cow was still alive at 5:15 am. it all happens very quickly.
mexico, where life is less sterile and reality is more accessible.
i felt compelled to take her skin with me
unfolding her and handling her for the first time was really beautiful. i could still feel the life that had been inside her only a few hours before.
after cleaning her and moving her to this rock/altar, i spent the rest of the day working her skin
i wanted to watch the process of decomposition, to experience her flesh changing from day to day. this little cage would protect her from the animals coming and carrying her off in the night
the next morning i felt a little strange knowing she was out in the back yard. i worried throughout the night about what might happen with the flies and the smell of her rotting flesh. i thought maybe i had bitten off more than i could chew and that i should bury her or burn her that day, but my curiosity was just a little stronger than my reason.
there was so much beauty taking place in the breaking down of her flesh, and a whole new system of life thriving in this environment.
creating this situation made me extremely aware of the way nature comes in force to do its job. had i left her uncovered the vultures and other animals would surely have consumed her before this time, but i interfered with that part of the process. now...the quantity of maggots was frightening.
i really felt a responsibility to this cow...entering into this process of her life and her death, and wanted to give her a ceremonious burial, to give her something more human, but in the end, she went out with the trash.
Detail of stomach exterior
Entry
