Michelle Lee - Frottage 2017

Frottage 2017 Exhibition View

frottage

(i) : the technique of creating a design by rubbing (as with a pencil) over an object placed underneath the paper; also : a composition so made

(ii) : the act of obtaining sexual stimulation by rubbing against a person or object

'Frottage' is a show featuring three installations that/which embody (the) idea(s) regarding the fascination of the space, divided and outside of our individual skin, as an extension of one’s own body and mind. The human body, encapsulated as the negative space separate from the space outside of the human skin, in tandem with human conditions—including/such as longing, companionship, loneliness, insatiable desire of being loved / accepted, and the inclined involvement of bodies to one another whether the interaction be person to person, person to object, and/or person to nature—are pivotal ideas that pull back and forth in the show.

The show grew from the idea of the skin, reconsidered as a layer that separates or holds, which extended into the thoughts of the physical materiality of the body and the intangible aspects of the human mind. The installations use various materials and represent different thoughts about the human condition: the solidification of the extension outside of one’s skin, the shapes and patterns created by honest interactions of the human body to body/object/ nature, and the layer of a human body that has been peeled off, inside out. The materials include: inflatable human figure toys, form, canvas, charcoal, latex, plaster, cheese cloth, indian ink, lead, wax, copper, silicon, wig, bed, thread, bed sheet and stand light.