Virginia Gibson (she/they)
@virginiagibson_artworks
It hurts to have a body, there is pain and the pain exists because we feel. We have feelings and emotions that manifest physically. It is one of the beautiful things about being alive, however it can cause so much agony. Agony that sits and waits under the dim light of the recesses of the amygdala, triggered by the sense of a recurring heinous act forced upon oneself. A pain that is physical but manifests from the cerebral; an interesting dance between one’s vessel and the mind in which drives it. This body-mind connection can create the tears, folds, and weight that sit in one’s chest or that drags down their feet when just trying to make it through life. A pain that exists throughout the body that is dispersed from the mind; an invisible illness that life has bestowed upon the afflicted. In this body of work I am depicting the presence of trauma from my daily life into abstract bodies. They explore the relationship between fragility and stability of the mind. They are physical manifestations that resemble natural, botanical, and organ-like forms in order to try and create a type of visceral reaction to the forms themselves. I am doing this through the use of form, color, and texture. The mangled and torn surfaces that were once pristine pieces of canvas and untouched materials are representative of the mind once trauma is introduced. Through the iconographic language of trauma in art - things such as defacing the surface, cutting the canvas, and suggesting bodily forms. I am developing my own sense of visual communication in relation to my inner conversations about trauma. These inner conversations come from the part of the brain that cannot express torturous events in one’s life. They are, however, expressed through physical manifestations and creativity. In this collection of figures, I hope to create a narrative that elicits some sort of connection between the art and the self. Feeling the things one cannot express seems to be the best way to process atrocious acts of life on a once blank and pristine canvas that is the human psyche.
@virginiagibson_artworks
It hurts to have a body, there is pain and the pain exists because we feel. We have feelings and emotions that manifest physically. It is one of the beautiful things about being alive, however it can cause so much agony. Agony that sits and waits under the dim light of the recesses of the amygdala, triggered by the sense of a recurring heinous act forced upon oneself. A pain that is physical but manifests from the cerebral; an interesting dance between one’s vessel and the mind in which drives it. This body-mind connection can create the tears, folds, and weight that sit in one’s chest or that drags down their feet when just trying to make it through life. A pain that exists throughout the body that is dispersed from the mind; an invisible illness that life has bestowed upon the afflicted. In this body of work I am depicting the presence of trauma from my daily life into abstract bodies. They explore the relationship between fragility and stability of the mind. They are physical manifestations that resemble natural, botanical, and organ-like forms in order to try and create a type of visceral reaction to the forms themselves. I am doing this through the use of form, color, and texture. The mangled and torn surfaces that were once pristine pieces of canvas and untouched materials are representative of the mind once trauma is introduced. Through the iconographic language of trauma in art - things such as defacing the surface, cutting the canvas, and suggesting bodily forms. I am developing my own sense of visual communication in relation to my inner conversations about trauma. These inner conversations come from the part of the brain that cannot express torturous events in one’s life. They are, however, expressed through physical manifestations and creativity. In this collection of figures, I hope to create a narrative that elicits some sort of connection between the art and the self. Feeling the things one cannot express seems to be the best way to process atrocious acts of life on a once blank and pristine canvas that is the human psyche.
