Cindy Stelmackowich: Wound Care
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Estevan Art Gallery & Museum 118 4 Street, Estevan, Saskatchewan S4A 0T4
Cindy Stelmackowich, “Wound Care Wrapped Series,” 2016-2019
paper, gauze bandages, cotton, Pyrex glassware, steel, tile, dissection instrument, enamel medical dish and vintage medical table, 30” x 26” x 42” (photo by David Barbour)
Cindy Stelmackowich: Wound Care
My art practice has centered on long-standing concerns related to the human body as a site of fragility, mortality and memory. This exhibition has been inspired by my growing collection of old medical books, mannequins, and anatomical artifacts. After studying the bright colors on the edges of pages in old medical books, I began working from the observation that the interior of the body was evident in both the outside of the books as well as inside. I wet and re-formed these red, pink and yellow colored pages into new medical paper sculptures. In each distinct piece I experimented with the pages to create intricate cross-sections of flesh; sculpting, stacking, and entangling the paper forms, juxtaposing flesh-like colors. Informed by our human relationship to health and wound care, I then tended to these dissected, bruised and scraped sculptural bodily parts: they have been bandaged, braced, and held in place by plaster casts, muscle tape, and metal medical splints. This exhibition suggests we can connect looking inward as a way to expand our perception of the world and the humanity that is around us.
- Cindy Stelmackowich, artist statement
Artist Bio
Born in Melville, Saskatchewan in 1967, Cindy Stelmackowich studied both art and science at the University of Saskatchewan due to her interest in both disciplines and their inter-connections. She moved to Ottawa to do a Master’s degree and continues to live there and teach courses at Carleton University. Stelmackowich completed a PhD in the history of art and science in New York state and has conducted research in medical and science archives across Europe. Her work as a researcher, writer, and curator compliments her artistic pursuits. Her artworks are in a number of municipal, university and national art collections, including the Canada Council Art Bank.
The artist would like to thank the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Ottawa for their funding support.