Nadine Smith
Recycled dialysis tubing, fine silver, retort stand
Mixed Media
Close Cuts (Framed brooch series)
Sterling silver, polymer clay, needle, thread, fibre optics, doll eyes, false eyelashes and finger nail, computer parts
The work I create explores issues surrounding the manipulation of the body and environment. I invoke a multilayered response to possible ways of coping with the changing world. These works are made with the intention of provoking conversation around difficult or uneasy topics.
Recent pieces playfully manipulate the idea of machines as extensions of our bodies, hinting at the lengths we will go to to preserve our physical being. The line between artificial intervention out of necessity as apposed to vanity is becoming ever more blurred and the topic of continuing debate. As advances in the technology of life support are made new dilemmas will be raised.
The intimate scale of my sculptural works, their toy-like smallness and sense of animation reveals both the playful and intense qualities of my practice, allowing the viewer an intimate experience. They are complex representations of life, and the scale and material is suggestive of the human body as a doll and puppet that can be manipulated. Today humankind has become an active part in the production of the new, and hybrid species. We decide what type of creatures we want or want to be, therefore have to face the ethical responsibilities.