Exhibitions

ANNA BABCOCK: MY ECDYSIS

Gallery 1010 (UTK) / 176 Cottonwood Dr., Franklin, TN October 10 - 11th

Anna Babcock

Ecdysis means "shedding off" specifically when it comes to crustaceans molting their exoskeleton. This happens so that the organism can grow.

This series of paintings and sculptures is a product of Anna's return to connectedness with her body and self after a severe burn injury, hospitalization, and ongoing recovery—her ecdysis. Through scraping and layering, the paintings echo scar-like textures and the complex nature of repair and regrowth. The six 72inch paintings hold presence and weight representing new growth, repair, and shedding of whats dead. The ceramic sculptures mimic Anna's skin grafts. As she forms the clay slab, cuts, and stretches the skin into a mesh, she replicates the surgical process of split-thickness skin grafts. She then lays the mesh on her own legs or on a mannequin, adding contour. The result is a fragile, resilient echo of the body. This repeated process has increasingly helped her see the artistry in her own skin grafts, as she has grown to love her textured scars.