PATRICIA AYRES
Patricia Ayres’ works draw from structures of societal constraint, such as the ritual morality of Catholicism, systems of incarceration in the United States, and ideals of the body. Informed in part by her education in fashion, the sculptures are shaped by Ayres’ process, elaborating upon her conceptual sources.
She builds each sculpture by wrapping yards of elastic, slowly developing a corporeal form that is at once imposing and vulnerable. Many works are bound by latched harnesses or pierced with butcher’s hooks, and affixed with parachute hardware, then stained with materials precious to her practice: anointing oil, sacramental wine, iodine, ink, and what she describes as “gunk.” Their coverings, between skin and garment, are stretched tight across their forms, both innate to the works and in struggle with their shape.
Between her totemic figures, wall-mounted cocoons, and amorphous floor works, her sculptures hold an uncanny presence in the gallery. Ayres’ practice navigates anxiety, rebellion, and sexuality, in a world created and stifled by its own influences.
Text courtesy Mendes Wood DM.
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