Chthonic, 2020, Industrial wool felt, cotton thread, paper, fiber fill, electrical conduit, sewing hardware
NICOLE HAVEKOST
Artist Statement
I am fascinated by bodies. They are simultaneously beautiful and grotesque.
While coarse hair grows, revelations of desire can arrive.
While the lungs take air, bones degrade.
Once pregnant, the same body hosts faltering hormones.
Despite love, wounds ooze.
I can actively influence these processes of my physical form, but I cannot control any of them fully. My body is mine, it is also an organism with its own needs. I am compelled to explore this exquisite, repulsive organism that exists beyond my desires. My previous work explored my body and its discipline with very careful and precise forms. These new felt, large-scale figures and wall works allow me to more fully explore this growing intimacy and acceptance I have with the organism that is my physical form. The act of sewing is integral to these new forms. Piercing, pulling and closing, each stitch is aggressive and restorative. Stitching is an act of accumulation; it is a collection of marks, moments and attachments that give shape to a form. Sewing these forms, I rest in my own body more fully.
Past Group Exhibitions: Structures of Feeling, 2022