Jennifer
Plaster or concrete, Vaseline & haematite pigment (‘Egremont Red’ made by the Florence Paintmakers working on the site of Florence Mine)
2016 onwards
I cast my legs in plaster and heamatite powder. Heamatite, from the Greek word, ‘hema’, meaning blood. Superstition holds this stuff in association with life sustainment and, of course, also the opposite: death. It was once used to coat bodies before burial (in line with the uncanny relationship between grave and womb). Long seams, veins of it run through the Cumbrian Landscape. I got my heamatite pigment from Florence Mine, the last deep iron ore mine in West Europe. It owes its namesake to the wife of the Chairman of the Millom and Askham Company. 'Florence' was his affectionate name for her.
Install shot of 'Jennifer (Suspender)' (2017) from 'Moth' >>
"The pieces of Jennifer's body..." Courtney Love sings the title of the 1994 track that inspired Jennifer's Body directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody, starring Megan Fox. The name Jennifer stems from that meaning "fair" and "phantom" or "enchantress". Angela Carter jibed the the Marquis De Sade for hounding the J's, torturing 'Justine' while 'Juliet' played the patriarchy at their own game; but both women were mere symbols for a society in turmoil. It all goes some way towards highlighting the contradictory roles a woman is expected to play because of the symbolism her various body parts have acquired over history... it's like my legs have have lived for centuries before they started carrying me around. "I am a woman of the past century", screamed Emmy von N..., 40 years old, from Livonia; to Lucien Freud (thanks Helene Cixous and Catherine Clement for your The Newly Born Woman)
Jenny in Eller Beck>>