This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
*
The paleontological term lazarus taxa refers to certain zoological species that disappear from the fossil record, only to reappear, sometimes millions of years later, suddenly. As a metaphor for the vagaries of memory and fate, the analogy is a powerful one, full of emotional, psychological, and poetic resonance. Caitlin McCormack’s assertively delicate sculptural works, constructed of crochet techniques and discarded elements from the world of thread, portray dimensional skeletons and lightly tactile skulls and bones and spines that flirt with abstraction.
Advertisement
She portrays the ivory-hued remains of fish, birds, mammals, lizards, and primates -- which may or may not include humans -- with the delicacy of antique lace, a naturalist intellect, and the talismanic aura of a family heirloom. Deep black and warm bone-white with the rare pop of color, she achieves an overall graphic crispness in the quality of the imagery. By contrast, the destabilized sculptural presence of the works, particularly when encountered in the context of a large collection of them, augments the history museum, cabinet of curiosity, scientific inquiry aspects of her aesthetic and narrative premise, making clever, salient use of bell jars, wooden plaques, and black velvet grounds.
Unctuous enamel paint provides both the surface character and the structural binding of her pieces, in a kind of invisible, yet glistening tensile strength. Within its frozen form, viewers are invited to consider the significance of cloth and thread in the history and literature of human experience. These works recall the fiber sculptures of artists such as Annette Messager with her gently knit sweaters for dead birds, and the soft, loving taxidermy photographs of Ann Hamilton. Her figures are frequently nested in at least a schematic context of traditional-looking crochet, into which each is integrated, so that the form seems to simultaneously both emerge from and dissolve back into its source.
Advertisement
In this way the work physically embodies the overall project’s conceptual gestalt of life, death, and memory across the passage of time. McCormack’s pensive, richly detailed, lovingly crafted aesthetic of entropy and disintegration directly expresses her meditations on memory’s susceptibility to revision, change, loss, and distortion over time. Our identity is thus understood to be vulnerable, exposed to the threats of corrosive elements in the psyche, as our bodies are in the world.
At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.
Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.