my first sketch of the installation
unwanted flesh
In 2023 I won the Cardiff MADE Solo Art Prize and it was then that "unwanted flesh" began to grow. After being granted funding for the project from the Arts Council of Wales, I began work in January of 2024. “unwanted flesh,” like much of my work serves to unravel the facets of my being; it acts as an archive of sorts – archiving not only the facets of myself/body but the growth of “unwanted flesh” itself.
“There is a sense that this body (of work) is in a perpetual cycle of shedding and then reabsorbing, feeding upon itself. There is no such thing as ‘waste’, every part is hoarded, amassed and reserved - just in case.
The body consumes and re-consumes - it is a feast.” – Poppy Jones-Little
The body of work was created while I went through a medically induced menopause, and it maps my journey as well as the variety of comorbid illnesses that feast on my flesh. Disparate panels are tethered together by gauzy veils that mimic the effect that deep-infiltrating endometriosis has had on my organs. Just as these caricaturised and abstracted objects are forged together, my identities, life experience and flesh are bound together.
“I have withheld the words 'monstrous’ and ‘grotesque’ up until now, largely as both terms are loaded with (and hindered by) often unhelpful art historical references which are almost completely devoid of joy. And there is something so wildly joyous, kitsch and camp in the work - each ounce is imbued with a radical love for bodies.” – Poppy Jones-Little, 2024
