Lipstick (Vaccination), 2017

Birch, sanding machine polishing, satin, staples/ dimensions variable

<…> We see different stages of “acculturation” and fooling of natural material. First, rough skin is removed / depilated from the log and the plastic transformation begins. The log is dressed in a shiny satin — partially, and then completely. Delicate colors are becoming more intense and aggressive. In the end, the natural turns into the artificial, the whole becomes fragmented, the grafted tissue becomes native. The live birch turns into a glossy Galatea, the ideal of beauty, an exhibit… <…>All sculptures have a coarse stapler seam on the back of the site at the place of surgery. And the stronger the resistance of the material, the larger the staples. No matter how wonderful the result of vaccination, there is always a memorable scar at the junction of “yours” and “the other’s”. <…> 

Text: Vasya Verdi, translated from Russian