Michelle Frick
ARTIST STATEMENT The installations and sculptures I make are filtered through medicine, healing, and the hospital experience. The viewer reconsiders medical monitors, intravenous line components, drain tubes, sensors, and disposable medical garb in a new context. An investigation into the functions of the body, particularly the viscera, is subtly apparent and layered with questions surrounding waste and the environment. My arrival at these materials and this subject matter was inadvertent and came about when two immediate family members were hospitalized for extended periods. For four years I was exposed to a wide variety of nurses' supplies and witnessed the aftermath of high-risk medical procedures. The hospital supplies and medical devices for which I have developed an affinity, may trigger uneasy associations. My interest lies in playing with these associations when the objects are re-contextualized by exploring the animate qualities they carry. Repetitive processes, such as the application and hardening of multiple layers of paper and tape, are integral to my working process. My work implies a series of contradictions. These include nature and the synthetic world that sustains us, the resilience of the body and the power of medical technology, fear and sweetness, medical consumption and waste.
