Transfixed: The Art of Feeling Seen

Lines of Communication • 2022

Of the five senses, touch is arguably the most intimate. During the first year of the pandemic it was terrifying to realize that we could harm or even kill a loved one through a simple, loving gesture: a kiss, an embrace, a caress… the warm breath of a whisper or a sigh. The artworks presented in Occupation: Coax, Coddle, and Caress—my exhibition at the Des Moines Art Center in Nov. 2022—address the complexities of touch and relationships through the creation and activation of wearable objects that I think of as surrogate lovers, companions, meditational devices, and even parasites.