Kaisa Nichols-Russel

This project, entitled Fragments, is a culmination of my past year of art making. My work has explored concepts rooted in shame and stigma, specifically related to the identities and body I occupy. In exploring this topic, I have used my body directly to create photographs, printmaking, and most recently sculptures. The physicality of my work lends itself to working directly in space, and I have decided to focus on this through the use of mold-making. In embracing the physical aspects of art making, I am able to truly understand what being in my body means, and how it makes me feel. 

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This project puts my body into real form for the viewer and focuses on my belly, the part of my body I am most insecure about. By using a mold-making material, I was able to capture every pore and stretch mark that is present. By creating a stomach cast, I was able to put the focus on this part of the body, that is so often purposefully ignored and dismissed by others. By creating multiples of the casts, I was able to show how one’s body changes day by day-and even minute to minute. The variety in the bellies provides the viewer with a chance to contemplate why the plaster casts look different from one another, and how. In focusing solely on the belly and putting it into the spotlight, the piece allows viewers to consider their relationship and feelings towards their own bodies. This allows individuals to feel more deeply towards themselves, and it moves people to dig deeper into how and why they feel the way they do towards their bodies.