Degree Show 2025

This body of work is titled The Unraveling Body, it is an exploration of impermanence, the internal body, and abjection. The work engages with ideas of the abject as articulated by Julia Kristeva — the breaking down of bodily borders and the discomfort that arises when what is meant to be inside the body becomes external. In her work, she argues that the abject is what is rejected or cast aside from the body, such as bodily fluids, decay, and other forms of impurity, which disturb the boundaries between the self and the other.

In Powers of Horror (1980), Kristeva introduces the concept of abjection as a psychological and cultural reaction to things that disturb our sense of self, identity, and societal order. The abject is not simply what is disgusting—it is something once part of us or intimately familiar, now rejected or cast off in order to maintain a sense of personal or social boundaries.

The abject challenges the body’s integrity and forces us to confront the unclean or disruptive elements of human existence. It exists at the margins of what is socially acceptable and is often tied to the uncontrollable aspects of human existence, such as illness, death, or bodily functions; it is these undesirable aspects of human existence in which I found inspiration for this work.