ELISHA COX ART
'THE FAT BODY',(2020)
Weight has been such an underlying reason to my anxiety and general upset for years. In 2018 I took the major step to choose to study abroad in Cyprus at the University of Nicosia for my second year in my BA (Hons) Fine Art course at the University of Plymouth. I began my University experience self conscious, shy and unsure of my self worth. Therefore, I never would of imagined the development both in my practice and my appreciation for my body to develop so dramatically. A few months into my exchange my practice began to take a shape which became more personal.
During the these past two years my practice and mediums have developed from balloons, to foam, to now primarily flour and polyamide elastane fabric. The experiences I had during my exchange shaped me into who I am today, while it both broke me down, it taught me how to bring myself back up again to the point where I now where I will never allow someones opinions or views on body fat affect how I live my life. By producing this work, I am hoping to emphasize the meaning of self appreciation and the love for every body.
The videos below represent my final work for my degree show, 'Bulge', (2020). The videos are clips to allow you to imagine how the work performs when being interacted with by a viewer.
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Elisha cox on Facebook Watch
Elisha Cox. ART602. TB.
'Bulge', (2020)
'Bulge',(2020)
'Bulge', a sculptural installation displayed at the Royal William Yard studio in Plymouth, is my most recent work exploring the female body in the 21st century.
'Bulge' was a way for me to explore on a larger scale the affects flour had within the polyamide elastane fabric. I had previously been working with small scale sculptures using nude tights as a medium to explore the fat body within a sculptural manor. Initially 'Bulge', (2020) started as an experiment, which I would develop into a final sculptural installation, however due to circumstances and the outcome the work and I have learnt to adapt and let it speak for itself. Through video documentation, I began to record how the installation could be interacted with in hope to produce 2D documentation which represents this sculpture the best it can. (Refer to the videos above this text.)
‘Bulge’, (2020) was ultimately the most impactful and important sculpture in my practice to date. As I mentioned above I was led to adapting my project and therefore the sculpture spoke for itself, with its presence, adaptability, and materialism. The sculpture is a release of past pains and negative experiences involving my fat body and a artwork to express the meaningfulness of discussing body fat naturally and learn to accept experiences relating to body fat as a learning curve that fat is nothing but a substance, not something which can show your beauty, worth or hierarchy in society. As Don Kulick and Anne Meneley stated fat is not simple and cannot be concluded in a sentence, body fat is due a discussion, and one which can conclude to our western society that it is merely a substance on each and every one of our bodies and not something which is bad or to be scared off. Fat is Fat (2005).
'Untitled', (2020)
'Overhang', (2020)
'Legs 11', (2020)
Above are a few examples of my smaller sculptures which I was experimenting with during the early stages of the project, before I moved on to making 'Bulge', (2020).
'Untitled', (2020)
‘Untitled’, (2020) was a crucial sculptural experiment within my practice as it was the first piece of work in which I allowed others to interact and create their own perspective on ‘Untitled’, (2020). During a peer review session, I invited my fellow students to interact and play with the work however they may please.
In all honestly, I did not expect them to be so rough with the work. (Shown in figure 8- After the peer review) At first the review was daunting and nerve-wracking experience, but as I relaxed and began to widen my perspective on their reactions towards my work I began to see a positive light to allowing others to experience the work physically. Since allowing my peers to interact with the work as they pleased, I feel as if I am less protective and therefore less limited to how my artwork can speak to the viewer and sit in spaces. I think that can further my practice as I will no longer be limited by rules of my own surrounding my practice. I am free to experiment freely as I like but also allow my viewers to experiment just as much when experiencing my work, unlike before. (‘Untitled’, (2020) interaction photographed below).
In a way I was able to visualize how they approached my artwork. I saw people being playful and enjoying the sculpture for its materials and I saw others which were delicate with their moves and touches and really considering the formal components of the work. I have found previously when inviting people to write down their response to my work, many people become less honest or as if there is pressure to write something meaningful. Unlike asking people, when the viewers were interacting with my artwork, I was able to see a more truthful response, without them feeling pressure to write it. This experience has taught me that allowing people to interact with the work is not only a freeing experience for me by allowing myself to almost imagine the work as being all of my worries, pains and bad experiences with my fat body and reflecting on that and viewing others interacting with the work as if its work, just as if my body is just a body, not a fat one. I found myself seeing others accepting me.
Reviewing the comments after the peer review, I realized the importance of the materials Polyamide Elastane and flour together. Together they bring the whole concept of accepting the word fat neutrally becoming alive. Within my daily practice I hope to not only release past pains and feelings towards how my body and other large bodies are treated in a western judgmental society, but to ultimately express a sense of conversation surrounding the word fat in relation to the human body. Which seems to be such an uncommon conversation in a society which seems to express the importance of how much body fat you have in relation to hierarchy.