Sensum/Sensorium (1998-2001)

In Latin, Sensum/Sensorium translates loosely as “that which is sensed and the apparatus through which we sense it”.  Latin is used because of its relationship to scientific taxonomy. In this body of work I use photographic images of the human sensory organs such as eyes, ears, and hands.  They are images of action–watching, caressing, grabbing, listening.  These hand-painted photographs are then fashioned into butterflies, moths and beetles that are to read as scientific specimens, which present themselves for close examination.  It is important that they be recognized as specimens and not as romanticized depictions of “nature”. Thus they are pinned, indicating that they function as objects for scrutiny.  In so doing, human interaction, mediated by the senses, is also scrutinized.