NEW YORK
GHOSTMACHINE
Body Memory
February 3 – February 25, 2023
Give, Montreuil Series. Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in.
[New York] GHOSTMACHINE Gallery is pleased to present its inaugural group exhibition “Body Memory” featuring the work of Nicki Cherry, Calli Roche, Bianca Abdi-Boragi, Kyoko Hamaguchi, and Yvonne Shortt.
Body memory is a hypothesis that the body itself is capable of storing memories, as opposed to only the brain. Conceptually, body memory is defined as the sum of all past bodily experiences that are stored in memory and influence behavior. Body memories, therefore, comprise corporeal experiences of the past that can be explicit but also implicit, not easily accessible to conscious reflection. This exhibition discusses the concept of body memory from an artist’s perspective. Five artists approach the topic from different angles: as a direct reference to a body responding to a trauma injury, through a historic trauma, collective memories of ancestral gestures and values, experiencing another person’s perspective, or as a conscious body overcoming patterns of behavior.
After the flame, after the pain by Nicki Cherry features a bronze cast of a half-melted candle in the shape of her own injured spine, cast from the artist’s 2021 sculpture Coping Mechanism. Cherry’s sculptures embody the turmoil that comes with having a body—such as chronic pain, illness, dysmorphia, and anxiety—in an attempt to make these experiences less lonely. The heaviness and durability of the bronze cast reflect the weight of chronic pain and how it leaves a permanent mark on the body.
Our bodies remember trauma and abuse — quite literally. They respond to new situations with strategies learned during moments that were terrifying or life-threatening. Our bodies remember the need to protect themselves from perceived threats.
Calli Roche’s piece “Breastplate of Righteousness” speaks to ancestral resilience. This artwork is part of a series of works presented as the by-product of the somatic healing the artist has derived from object-making, reclaiming the biblical armor of God as a framework. This piece combines references to 16-century pair of bodies worn by European royalty at the outset of the transatlantic slave trade and bulletproof vests worn by modern-day law enforcement.
On the other hand, Bianca Abdi-Boragi’s painting Montreuil’s waters is inspired by the Montreuil flea market, like a souk in Paris that sells clothes and fabrics. Most people who go there are migrants. “We go there for the cheap clothes and the North-African food stands. People search through vast piles of clothes, like a big ocean we’re all part of; it’s a collective, effervescent activity.” Abdi-Boragi. The artist bought traditional Amazigh fabric and designed gloves to create this composition. While this piece addresses collective body memory, consumption, and sartorial appearances, it’s also a poetic approach to the act of searching.
In Sight Condenser, contact lenses float in their cases as if ready to be worn. Each lens carries a drawing of scenery that artist Kyoko Hamaguchi experienced while wearing them. Seemingly two copies of the same image, each drawing is actually offset as the right and left eyes see slightly different views, offering viewers the chance to see through the artist’s eyes.
Through her terracotta sculpture Ego, Yvonne Shortt is investigating what is required to overcome engraved behavioral patterns. In a hostile environment the body must adapt – says Ms. Shortt. Because the ego perceives resources are scarce it adapts. It wants to be the best, make others feel lesser than others, be closed-minded, and not care about those who can’t help it succeed. It desires selectivity which leads to exclusivity and the desire to be part of the hierarchical power structure.
Body memory is a hypothesis that the body itself is capable of storing memories, as opposed to only the brain. Conceptually, body memory is defined as the sum of all past bodily experiences that are stored in memory and influence behavior. Body memories, therefore, comprise corporeal experiences of the past that can be explicit but also implicit, not easily accessible to conscious reflection. This exhibition discusses the concept of body memory from an artist’s perspective. Five artists approach the topic from different angles: as a direct reference to a body responding to a trauma injury, through a historic trauma, collective memories of ancestral gestures and values, experiencing another person’s perspective, or as a conscious body overcoming patterns of behavior.
After the flame, after the pain by Nicki Cherry features a bronze cast of a half-melted candle in the shape of her own injured spine, cast from the artist’s 2021 sculpture Coping Mechanism. Cherry’s sculptures embody the turmoil that comes with having a body—such as chronic pain, illness, dysmorphia, and anxiety—in an attempt to make these experiences less lonely. The heaviness and durability of the bronze cast reflect the weight of chronic pain and how it leaves a permanent mark on the body.
Our bodies remember trauma and abuse — quite literally. They respond to new situations with strategies learned during moments that were terrifying or life-threatening. Our bodies remember the need to protect themselves from perceived threats.
Calli Roche’s piece “Breastplate of Righteousness” speaks to ancestral resilience. This artwork is part of a series of works presented as the by-product of the somatic healing the artist has derived from object-making, reclaiming the biblical armor of God as a framework. This piece combines references to 16-century pair of bodies worn by European royalty at the outset of the transatlantic slave trade and bulletproof vests worn by modern-day law enforcement.
On the other hand, Bianca Abdi-Boragi’s painting Montreuil’s waters is inspired by the Montreuil flea market, like a souk in Paris that sells clothes and fabrics. Most people who go there are migrants. “We go there for the cheap clothes and the North-African food stands. People search through vast piles of clothes, like a big ocean we’re all part of; it’s a collective, effervescent activity.” Abdi-Boragi. The artist bought traditional Amazigh fabric and designed gloves to create this composition. While this piece addresses collective body memory, consumption, and sartorial appearances, it’s also a poetic approach to the act of searching.
In Sight Condenser, contact lenses float in their cases as if ready to be worn. Each lens carries a drawing of scenery that artist Kyoko Hamaguchi experienced while wearing them. Seemingly two copies of the same image, each drawing is actually offset as the right and left eyes see slightly different views, offering viewers the chance to see through the artist’s eyes.
Through her terracotta sculpture Ego, Yvonne Shortt is investigating what is required to overcome engraved behavioral patterns. In a hostile environment the body must adapt – says Ms. Shortt. Because the ego perceives resources are scarce it adapts. It wants to be the best, make others feel lesser than others, be closed-minded, and not care about those who can’t help it succeed. It desires selectivity which leads to exclusivity and the desire to be part of the hierarchical power structure.