PROUD
FLESH
"And see how the flesh grows back
across a wound, with a great vehemence,
more strong
than the simple, untested surface before.
There's a name for it on horses,
when it comes back darker and raised: proud flesh"
- Jane Hirshfield
The works in Proud Flesh are an identity that is collective, a multitude, held in one body. The work is about telling stories that have been (and continue to be) silenced. Speaking through the work breaks that silence and gives voice to experience and memory, proudly in celebration and resistance. Proud Flesh delves into history held within the skin and the lasting impact of violence on the female body. Collagen as material serves as a metaphorical thread weaving stories of resilience, vulnerability, and the profound impact of violence. The multiple sculpted layers of drawing, pigment, text and objects, reference layers of human skin, memory and the many selves carried within, that echo back to the roots of all of my ancestors and their intergenerational experience. These works are the children of story, of broken silence, of women’s tales that are not celebrated; stories embedded in the cells of all the female bodies that have contributed to my own. Each work is a reckoning and a reclamation of my sense of self. Each of these “skins”, attempts a symbolic “reskinning” of myself, claiming ownership and transmuting the power of injury into strength.
Artist statement: My work pays homage to the complexity, strength and frailty of the human body. Utilizing skin as tactile language and body as archive, I aim to evoke a visceral response prompting contemplation of the profound impact of violence and the indomitable spirit that persists. I seek to amplify the often silenced narratives and visceral memories that remain an inescapable component of my experience of being female. My work references women's stories that are not celebrated, both the immediate physical evidence and the lasting unseen effects of the bodies retention of traumatization and invasion. Working across mediums, I create forms that are simultaneously resilient and vulnerable, mirroring the inherent complexity of the human condition. The expression dictating the medium, I frequently sculpt in collagen, incorporating drawing, painting and materials intended for use in the process of meat production; referencing the exploitation of females as "meat", while both examining and rejecting the objectification of myself and touching on my underlying fear of being consumed. Through my work I seek to untangle the seemingly irreconcilable dissonance of experiencing violence simultaneously with intimacy; and the incongruence of beauty found in devastation. My work fluctuates within the tensions created between them, searching for the reconciliation of states that presume mutual exclusivity. Revealing intimacies and aftermaths breaks long held silence, disrupting the paralyzation and isolation of violence. It is an act of reclamation and reconstruction, fostering a dialog around the need for empathy, understanding and the dismantling of the societal norms that perpetuate silence; giving voice to memory and experience proudly in celebration, authenticity and resistance.
Bio: Seraphin Hedges is a NYC based interdisciplinary artist. Born of African American and European descent in Louisville, Kentucky, Seraphin was raised by a single mother in an extended family with a strong matriarchal lineage. Her southern ancestry, the politics of a multiracial existence and the experiences of the women she has descended from heavily influence the direction and content of her work. Seraphin holds an MFA in Fine Arts from The School of Visual Arts in New York City and a BFA in Theatre Studies from Emerson College in Boston, MA. She and her partner live between New York City and New Jersey.