Exhibition and Analysis: We Are Saved By Loss by Naseem Darbey
'We Are Saved By Loss' is an exhibition I saw at the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre at Scunthorpe. The exhibition is about Naseem Darbey's experience with cancer and her wish to explore and understand what was happening to her by focusing on 'the morphology and pathology' of her cancer. This basically means the form and disease like nature of her illness. Darbey focused on the inside of the body rather than the outside to try to make a visual representation of the illness inside of her which isn't usually something tangible or visible to the naked eye. The pieces are shaped into what looks like organs and it was interesting to try and guess which were which, especially as some are distorted by colour. Darbey has picked organs that are particularly affected by cancer, like breasts and lungs for example, to relate more to the concepts behind the piece whilst raising awareness. I went to the exhibition with my parents who are nurses and they spent the time guessing which body part or organ was which, it was really interesting.
The pieces were presented in a dark room, with a large gap for the viewer's to walk through. The pieces were on dark cubes and spaced so they could be walked around and seen from all angles. The darkness enhanced the light and it was almost painful to look at, creating a sense of bitter-sweetness, because as beautiful as the pieces were, looking at them directly hurt. I think this pain was to mimic how medical jargon feels to people who haven't studied medicine and emphasises this sense of being overwhelmed.
Darbey is clearly inspired by textiles as the exhibition is very fabric orientated and though I don't think my project will follow that pathway, the layering and use of textures is inspiring. Darbey explores texture through a variety of fabrics to give a sense of the multitudes within the human body and the cancer itself. The folds within the fabric emphasise the light underneath by blocking out certain areas to give a sense of density and form, the folds in one piece seemed to reference the small intestine due to the proximity and sheer number of folds. This piece also used red and yellow coloured lights, suggesting the muscle, blood and fat around the body, though it was presented in a more appealing way. The pieces are beautiful in a strangely captivating way, I think the use of colour and texture is particularly enhanced by the use of lighting, which is very cleverly employed and packed full of symbolism.
Darbey's inspiration for the light came from her fascination with stars and the light they emit at birth and death. She uses Ultraviolet to reference the Cosmos and to create a visual link between the form of the disease and the light and shape of 'astronomical nebulae'. UV is emitted from newborn and dead stars almost symbolising the birth of the cancer and the death of the cancer, this presents a sense of achievement from Darbey at having beaten or battled it and the bright LEDs create a sense of hope for the future. Primary Coloured LEDs were also used to under light pieces, the LEDs were on a changing programme and gave the appearance of twinkling and shows 'the cylical process of loss and renewal' within the human body, losing old healthy cells and remaking them to beat the illness. I think the lighting was what I really took from the piece and I want to experiment - if not use it in my final outcome - I like how ultraviolet light exposes things that would initially go unseen by the naked eye and I think it relates to what I'm trying to do. I want to expose family relationships by holding them up to the light as ultraviolet light can exposes dirt or light coloured fabric. Maybe I can write my survey answers or recorded conversations in some kind of invisible ink to make whatever is written on appear normal, but once held up to the light, the conversation is shown. I'll have to experiment but I think this may be a possibility.
Though I do love this exhibition and these pieces are quite aesthetically pleasing without context due to the lights, colour and textures it raises the question if cancer is seen as desirable and glamorised through this. Cancer is a serious illness and certainly isn't anything to want, so I'm not sure how much I agree with these pieces. Though Darbey's inspirations came from the human form and stars rather than with the purpose of making it seem like a positive thing, there's still, for me at least, that connotation. I do think the exhibition is powerful and it has inspired me to play with lighting in a way I never have done before, more than once I had to take a moment to reflect and process the pieces, there is an undeniable beauty to them and they are powerful.