Open Space

Exhibition Statement

For many years, my art focused on expressing music and sound concepts visually. This direction shifted when I had the rare opportunity to observe surgery firsthand. Instead of visualizing unseen sounds, I began to visualize the hidden intricacies of the human body. My series, The Body Dispersed (2017-2018), draws inspiration from these surgical experiences. The artworks are intentionally grainy and diffused to mimic the murky qualities of medical imaging technologies such as x-rays, telescopic devices, and ultrasound. I aimed to capture moments when the depths of the body come into focus on operating theatre screens, reminiscent of adjusting a telescope to reveal the distinct features of distant planets.

I am particularly drawn to the out-of-focus character of many x-rays, scans, and surgical footage—qualities emulated in this exhibition. The grainy and blurry effects occur when internal fluids and vapors cloud the lens of operating tools or when radiology equipment requires precise adjustment. In these moments, the human form dissolves into spectral nebulas of tissue and veins. The circular format of medical imagery evokes planetary impressions of our internal landscape, akin to Jupiter or the moon Europa, with floating specks glowing like stars.

Science fiction novels, especially James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series, have influenced my interpretation of these cosmic landscapes within the human body. In the Expanse, an alien proto-molecule recomposes human bodies into new structures that spread across space. The character James Holden experiences moments of transcendence, feeling the universe within him:

“He felt the stars within him, the vast expanses of space contained by him. With a thought, he could pull his attention to a sun surrounded by planets like he was attending to his finger or the back of his neck...He had become immeasurably large, and rich and strange...Here was the nexus that sat between worlds.”

I titled the exhibition Open Space to imply that the human body contains a universe larger than its form. The title and framing reference how medical imaging technologies create portals into otherwise inaccessible worlds, much like telescopes reveal the far reaches of space. Through art, I explore the idea that our internal bodies house a nexus between visceral and cosmic landscapes.

1: James S. A. Corey, Abaddon’s Gate: Book Three of the Expanse (Orbit: Great Britain, 2013: 266).