An exploration of individual perceptions of time through melting sculpture and video, “Insubstantial” is a study of how both the concepts of time and our individual existence are equally intangible.

“Insubstantial” consists of several wax sculptures, in various degrees of melting. These sculptures are of white deer, and have been made through a latex moulding process. Arranged in herd formation, the sculptures slowly melted under the lights over the duration of the exhibition “Issues of Landscape”. All the sculptures looked the same at the beginning, having been made from the same mould, but they melted in individual ways, at different rates. By the end of the exhibition, which lasted 10 days, they were in varying stages of dissolution. Our perception of time is played with through the melting of the figures, a real-time slow motion event.
White deer are very rare, and were seen as a figment of imagination or myth in the past. In reality, they are found in Ireland and Northern America. They seem unreal, yet they are animal and perfectly natural. Their existence is fragile, as they are hunted illegally. They can seem physically fragile to the human eye, although deer are deceptively strong when fighting other deer. The many juxtapositions of contrast and duplicity in these white deer made them my focus for “Insubstantial”. They are a living illustration of the Buddhist idea of 'Impermanence', which I am currently researching. This idea asks why we might be more emotional about the mortality of a human, than of the dying of a flower. During the exhibition, this idea became illustrated in another way when the visitors got attached to the figures and became emotional about their inevitable demise.
My influences on this piece include Bill Viola (for his time), Gamble Staempfli (for his white sculptures in Matthew Barney's Cremaster series), and Rebecca Horn (for her building process).