| artist statement |
"Science shows you the inside of things, the parts most people never see. And once you've seen the inside of things, the outside of things never look quite the same." - Gerald Callahan, "Faith, Madness and Spontaneous Human Combustion" My work investigates the relationship between science and memory, and is directly informed by neuroscience, immunology, anatomy, and physiology (with particular focus on the five sense organs). The human body is a source of inspiration and fascination, as it is the instrument of our lived experience -- both where and how we collect implicit and explicit memories. Hand-embroidery is my primary medium because sewing literally pierces the 'skin' of the paper or canvas, yielding an orderly, clean surface and a messy, chaotic underbelly -- just like the skin is a calm and placid exterior that masks the messy inner workings of the human body. As human beings, we are in a constant state of becoming, of being made by our emotional and physical experiences -- by what we have smelled or touched, what we have seen or heard, where we have been or what we have eaten. My work attempts to illuminate the intricate relationship between the physical body and the individual emotions and memories it gathers over time, inviting the viewer to contemplate their own understanding of what it is to be human. |
exhibition catalogue Full-color, 20 page exhibition catalogue with an essay by Maggie Wright. Edition of 100, signed and numbered by the artist. Published in 2008 in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name at Pink Elephant Projects (PEP) Gallery, Brooklyn, New York. Available online from Pataphysical Longing Productions. $15.00 US (via Paypal) Excerpt from the catalogue essay: "Concerned with the ways in which our unseen, internal bodies determine the poetry of our senses, Canning exposes the mechanics behind our sensations, but gilds the evidence with personal narrative...Canning buffers the clinical nature of her imagery with the promised warmth of memory. Her work offers the universality of our internal experience with the intimacy of our individual souls."  |
