“She is jet propulsion, is relatively
insoluble, inconsolably eating air
with molecule teeth” – 1 and 2
Notes on Feeling
RedLine, Denver, CO
Curated by Elissa Auther
2012
These drawings are titled and inspired by a section of a poem by then RedLine resident artist Serena Chopra. Inspired by Chopra’s language, I created two images exploring a forceful body in suspended motion, full of extremely small detail, building into enigmatic and strange visceral organisms and bodily forms. The momentous, unknowable figure Chopra writes about with “molecule teeth” calls to mind “Ovarian teratoma encephalitis,” a rare type of tumor getting its name from the Greek word for “monster.” These otherworldly growths are known to contain cells from many different parts of the body and can generate hair and even teeth. Paralleling the poem, these teratoma tumors are an impelling influence – they are horrifically strange and seemingly incapable of being dissolved. They are made up of the very things naturally found in our bodies, causing the body to inexorably destroy the tumor along with itself.