generate, gestate, grow #1

ByMetanexus Editors

These drawings were a part of my first exhibition since my son was born in 2006. After having deeply immersed myself in the extraordinary—and completely ordinary—processes of pregnancy, natural birth, breastfeeding, and conscious parenting, I’ve never felt so intricately enmeshed in the procreant fabric of the world. I began this series of small drawings during my pregnancy to explore images of reproduction, gestation, and cellular growth within the confines of a restrained palette: pencil, needle, glue, paper. I work directly from the body, harnessing the authenticity of improvisation and the strength of a conceptual foundation—in this case a materials-based score harkening back to John Cage.

The natural processes of growth and evolution continually inspire me in the studio. I am intent on discovering the inherent nature and potential of my (often unusual) materials through sensory-based research and experimentation. (My sculptural materials have included my own hair and nails, glue as a proxy for skin, salt, sugar, acorns, and even the zoogleal mats used to ferment kombucha tea.) My art-making process seeks to approximate the beauty – both random and patterned – created by cellular growth. Working like a mad scientist in my own lab, I explore substances less for their virtuosic technical possibilities than for their evocative and metaphorical power.

My body of work includes works on paper, sculpture and installation; my focus on process and the body’s generative capabilities is at the core of my work. I bring a deep physical consciousness to my work that is the result of many years of dance, yoga, and sensory awareness training. I seek to define a space where human existence, especially the human body and its biological and artistic capacity to create, is no longer separated from the rest of the natural world.

In The End of the Art World, Robert C. Morgan writes that the challenge in approaching art is “how to slow down and regain consciousness.” I want to slow you down, to awaken in you a fully present human awareness. As Morgan writes, “beauty may be what one discovers by paying close attention.”

Author

  • Virginia Batson's installations, works on paper, mixed media sculpture, and artists' books have been exhibited internationally. Her artists' books are in university and museum collections in Philadelphia, New York, and the United Kingdom. Her background in dance and writing, especially in improvisational forms, informs her studio work. She received a master of fine arts degree from The University of the Arts and a bachelor of arts degree from Tulane University in New Orleans. She is a graduate of Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, Massachusetts. 

Similar Posts

  • Mystic Light

    ByMetanexus Editors

    In the same way as all “objects” in this world are fundamentally impermanent, and essentially arbitrary, partitions of an otherwise continuous, unfragmented whole, photography is (for me) an almost mystical process whereby the “veils of fragmentation” are momentarily lifted and the underlying essence of the universe is revealed.

  • of time, lost

    ByMetanexus Editors

    of time, lost let me tell you something about desire… I long for dark rooms. Crumbling architecture, peeling wallpaper, floors Polished by years of use. Dim light. Mirrors darkened with time, suspended in silence. I long for empty rooms. The residue of emotion contained within. Remnants. Traces of passage, Forgotten, like wilted bouquets. I long for…

  • Vortex 2

    ByMetanexus Editors

    Inspired by physics, I use the lines of colliding atomic particles to explore a new language of abstraction. Fusing physics, digital technology, and painting, I create hyper-energetic, cascading compositions based on simulated atomic particle collisions. Amid an infinite void, thousands of vibrantly-hued dots explode and implode in a constant state of flux, conjuring fireworks, waterfalls,…

  • Energy Field

    ByMetanexus Editors

    My work is spiritual and centering, told with simplicity, expressing in color and composition what cannot be spoken with words. It embodies the music, harmony, and mystery of the Universe, the underlying energy of our world, the music of being within all things, creating a peaceful, harmonious space wherein one can experience silence, stillpoint, and oneness with all.

  • Found in Nature

    ByMetanexus Editors

    An Interview with Barry Rosenthal What was the genesis of this project? Was it a reaction to the amount of waste that we humans generate and discard? For several years prior to starting the ‘Found in Nature’ series, I was shooting botanical photographs out in the field, that I call “PhotoBotanicus” and found myself at…