HIDDEN SELF VII (2008)

Materials: - Felt, human hair, metal thread, various gels and pastes.
Dimensions:- Height 20cm, Width 15cm, Depth 15cm

Hidden Self VII is part of a series which explore the facade of civilisation, when it is used as a barrier to withhold the primordial, aggressive desires which lay concealed within the unconscious mind. The pieces take inspiration from the ideas expressed in Wilhelm Reich’s The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1934), where the human psyche is divided into layers; the surface layer is our social conscious, while the layer beneath contains sexual and sadistic urges. In the work, primitive elements protrude through the lavish goldthread embroidery (normally reserved for state occasions and ecclesiastical wear), as coarse animal hairs grow from beneath the surface, while fluids seep from beneath the surface, staining the decorative outer core; representing uncontrollable elements amongst the order and sophistication.