Prolaritus (16x2)
Card (cut)

Kelly Cumberland

Kelly Cumberland's interest in the link between art and microbiology is
longstanding: as a Fine Art MA student at Leeds Metropolitan University in
1998, she pioneered collaboration between the Microbiology and Radiology
departments and the department of Fine Art.

Dissected objects, drawings and paper works delicately represent the fragility
and strength of the human body. In a multi-layered response to the life of a
virus her 32 piece series of white A4 cut-out's progressively 'decay' and break
apart before reforming in perfect symmetry. They are constructed using
repetitive techniques in a sequence of 16 sections, creating delicate, varied
structures that express a sense of growth, deterioration and fragility that
accompanies disease.

The repetitive action of removal to 'construct' these works echoes the Western
Clinical tradition of (re)production and reduction. Continuous addition and
removal in order to improve or 'cure' results in a coherent body of structural
variations. Working in sequences, the construction process ensures each
component is unique, whilst still retaining the possibility to combine in the
realization of a larger single work.



all photos © 2005 the blank group and the artist