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Weekend – Hamilton Spectator 1997 From the heart Kinsella’s art replete with Irony By Jeff Mahoney We’re a culture of fixaholics. We have been ever since we realized things can be fixed. We like fixing things so much that we do it whether they need it or not. Of course, some would say things always need it, everything needs fixing. It’s the great handshake between religion and science – so at odds about so much else, they agree that we live in an utter shambles and it needs to be put in order. Of course, the people doing the fixing always think theyare making something "better" . Better for whom? And do they mean better, or just "under control" ? One word – lobotomy. Medicine doing with scalpels what religion has always tried with scruples. And what New Agers try to do with 12 step programs. Fiona Kinsella’s work at the Hamilton Artists Inc. is called Prescribing Behaviour, a title which plays nicely on the idea of prescription, with both its moral and medical applications. Kinsella’s works in the show consist of white lace doilies, handkerchiefs, napkins and tablerunners, mounted on red or black backgrounds under glass in simple pine box frames. On and around the lace, Kinsella has positioned text and images, which have a cryptic, almost free association quality to them, except that they mostly relat to medicine, anatomy, the jeart and words of instruction. In this show, as in much of her recent art, Kinsella draws heavily on diagrams from old anatomical texts. Throughout these works she plays on the irony contained in the idea of an "anotomical" drawing of the human heart. The ultimate fix. That most unknowable organ reduced to chambers and ventricles and muscles. The anatomical diagram of the heart recurs in almost all of the pieces in this show, usually in minature, such as in the piece "Hankies (chance)". "Hankies (chance)" is essentially six eggs with their tops broken off, cushioned in a thick, orderly gathering of lace handerchiefs. Covering the broken tops of the the eggs are small transparent plastic membranes on which appear transfers of the anatomical heart image. Other anatomical images are somewhat more provocative…ulcerated tissue, a cloe-up of a tongue, an infected eye clamped open, crossesectionss of the brain, skull and spine, and the face of an exophthalmic woman. All of this is integrated into the lace accompanied by instructive phrases such as" Don’t panic; Remain Calm; Exhale; Repeat two slow gentle breaths; check for pulse on sie of neck; Two Teaspoons Twice Daily. Every once in a while Kinsella will throw in a cipher word like "Memory" or "CRUSH", and sometimes whe will register these under glass so faintly that they appear almost subliminal. Curiously added into the mix are quirky little low culture icons, like girlie photos from the 20’s, or a 50’s advertising cartoon of a woman. Obviously there is nothing Schematic or pat about Kinsella’s pieces here. She gets at things elliptically, metaphorically, in a way that make you work towards meaning. But she has done it all with such focus of material and theme and with such visual crispness that one enjoys losing onesself in the maze. Her clenching of the female art of doily and lace against the male science of anatomy and medicine is a brilliant stroke, both visually and thematically. The doilies and the medicine are simply different sacraments – ritual instruments of control, of order; of so called improvement. The domestic remedy and the institutional remedy. You are broken, here’s what to do. The words, the text in these pieces, make it clear: Breathe in, breathe out – but our way, according to our pecialized knowledge. They are prescriptions, the Ten Commandments. They’ll fix you all right. Kinsella has given us here, somewhat ironically, a show of remarkable clarity and control, classical in its obedience to its own unity and purpose. And its own mystery. Take the cure. Its on until August 2. The Hamilton Artists Inc. is at 103 Vine St. |
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