Sarah Williams

Wimbledon School of Art : First Class Dergree in Sculpture

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Diane on the carpet installation

 

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Diane on the Carpet Installation

 

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Diane on the sofa

 

 

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Hands

 

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Untitled,Doll

 

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Untitled,2002

 

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Untitled,Hair Fish

 

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Untitled

 

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You're dead meat,corridor

 

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You're dead meat,Room Installation

 

 

Artist Statement:

“We are meat, we are potential carcasses. If I go into a butchers shop I always think it’s surprising that I wasn’t there instead of the animal.” Francis Bacon, The Brutality of Fact, London 1987.

The human body is a fascinating, complex structure. It has physical limitations, which are often experienced through illness or death, which make it a fragile temporary entity that cannot be controlled or preserved. As humans of flesh and blood we are destined to age, die and decay and it is difficult to accept the reality of death, that we are highly temporary beings with a limited life span.
My practice involves using dead animals to represent humans. Acting as a metaphor these animals are altered to give them human qualities. Adding hair, lipstick or sculpting the animal’s flesh for example does this. My medium varies from installation, photography, sculpture and drawing. Installations consist of animal corpses placed within an environment which forces a viewer to confront the sadness of his/her own mortality. For example, my solo show consisted of skins hanging like jackets in a corridor, which led to a darkened room containing, suspended, vulnerable chicken bodies. These bodies were sculpted to appear human-like. The simple setting left the bodies and dripping blood as the centre for concentration. The animals have been placed within a domestic context whereby the ‘human-like’ emphasis is placed on the environment. Diane on the carpet introduces a pig to a richly coloured room so instead of making actual changes to the animal to make it look human, the room itself is changed into a subtle human environment. Francis Bacon paintings have influenced me in my choice of colours as well as his use of space.
The materials used are essential in communicating the fact that the body exists temporarily. For example, the use of raw meat mirrors human existence in the sense that both materials will age and deteriorate over a period of time. This often results in sculptures or installations lasting for a matter of days or even hours and thus could be placed within a performative context, lasting as a memory or through documentation. Animal corpses are also the subjects of my photographs. The glossy image aims to explore the role of the photograph as capturing a portrait, a memory or still moment of a subject. The medium and large format photographs hint at animals and humans having equal importance to humans. Often my work provokes thought about cruelty to animals and animal rights issues. I do accept these political interpretations however it is important to state that this is not my work’s intention.


The photographic work aims to explore the role of the photograph as a mechanism for capturing moments or memories. Like portraits, the juxtaposition of photographing already dead beings, hints at finality that we all face. The medium and large format photographs allow for questions concerning animal/human relationships to be raised.

 

 

Sarah Williams

Wimbledon School of Art : First Class Dergree in Sculpture

For sales, commissions and to send comments to the artist.

 

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