IATROGENESIS
[the below video is embedded - please allow a few moments to load.]‘Iatrogenesis’ is a devotional object; a suspended process of adaptation and resilience. An intricate vascular network runs throughout the entire piece, gradually mutating into rows of vicious teeth and defensive growths, destroying itself inwardly.
A central vascular line, recalling the veins of a leaf and a human and the Rod of Asclepius, becomes entangled with itself as it branches through the work and begins to deform entirely into bloodied teeth - eventually losing itself to the turbulence before regaining its structure as it meets the centre core and becomes a whole again.
Healing is an unstable, contradictory processes, and we are often unconsciously missold this as a beautiful and linear journey, designed to enable a flourishing of self. In reality, the sharpest teeth often point inwards: what do we do when the process of recovery is disgusting to us, when it is harmful and hateful, when we reach a point where our outcome no longer feels worthy of the means?
Inspired by medical symbolism and medieval ornaments, ‘Iatrogenesis’ explores the fragility of healing, the conflict of betterment and enjoyment, and suggests that the structures that are developed for survival are often the most punitive sources of harm.