Grenfell Art Gallery presents
An MFA Presentation of Work by Sally Wolchyn-Raab
Adipose
The BODY WITHOUT LIMITS
In the moments between sleep and waking, I imagine the boundaries of my body; permeable. Like apple blossoms blowing away from a tree in bloom, fat escapes from between the folds of my stomach and back. Long lines of inky blackness pour out of my chest from behind my heart and braid themselves together at my feet. My wakeful self wonders what these visions mean: are they fantasies chasing a smaller body or do I imagine myself limitless? What would the tissues of my body that have warmed, protected and nourished me think of my lifelong desire to rid myself of them? Would they take their leave, or would they hold me as they always have, in longing for friendship and appreciation?
Adipose is a graduate exhibition by Sally Wolchyn-Raab of an expanded drawing series exploring the social, political and familial influences on how we relate to our bodies and the things that nourish them. It is a curious and embodied look at the pain and joy of eating and living in a larger, queer and chronically-ill body, and the pasts and futures enacted at the kitchen table.
In the moments between sleep and waking, I imagine the boundaries of my body; permeable. Like apple blossoms blowing away from a tree in bloom, fat escapes from between the folds of my stomach and back. Long lines of inky blackness pour out of my chest from behind my heart and braid themselves together at my feet. My wakeful self wonders what these visions mean: are they fantasies chasing a smaller body or do I imagine myself limitless? What would the tissues of my body that have warmed, protected and nourished me think of my lifelong desire to rid myself of them? Would they take their leave, or would they hold me as they always have, in longing for friendship and appreciation?
In the moments between sleep and waking, I imagine the boundaries of my body; permeable. Like apple blossoms blowing away from a tree in bloom, fat escapes from between the folds of my stomach and back. Long lines of inky blackness pour out of my chest from behind my heart and braid themselves together at my feet. My wakeful self wonders what these visions mean: are they fantasies chasing a smaller body or do I imagine myself limitless? What would the tissues of my body that have warmed, protected and nourished me think of my lifelong desire to rid myself of them? Would they take their leave, or would they hold me as they always have, in longing for friendship and appreciation?
Sally Wolchyn-Raab is a queer, chronically-ill visual artist, writer and arts administrator living and working in Kjipuktuk (Halifax NS). Raised in Lenapehoking (Philadelphia) in an Ashkenazi-Jewish household, she writes and makes art inspired by food, cultural connection and bodily liberation. She works as one of the Artistic co-Directors of Eyelevel Artist-Run Centre, and is an MFA candidate at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her work has been published and exhibited in Canada and the United States.