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> > Gini

Artist and wordsmith, whose work engages with issues of access, from acknowledged physical needs to perceived symbolic exclusions. After being selected as one of DAO's New Voices in 2011, Gini's online presence has become an integral part of her arts practice

Origin and Insertion.
28 October 2012

Blog

Purple text on white ground, this hard to decipher textual art reads: I like French wine and Italian food, love reggae and foreign language films; Ibsen's plays and no. i don't relate to Disability Arts, I'm not disabled.

Having trouble with the precise positioning of Kosta's pecs, I decided to try Google. Before beginning on the life-size figures I did do a lot of research, which included borrowing medical tomes and studying anatomy on-line. However I never actually Googled a specific body part, and here at my first attempt found apparently exactly what I needed: Origin and Insertion, including details of the specific ribs these muscles are attached to and how they are attached. This is particularly appropriate...

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Naming the new soft sculpture.
13 September 2012

Blog

Soft sculpture head, unfinished, white fabric on a black background, with the curved sewing needle still protruding from his jaw.

Kosta. The 'new man' will be Kosta; not from coffee Costa, but from costa, the botanical noun for rib. Kosta, deriving from Kouros like Eve from Adam's rib, is in essence a clone. Physically, he should still be recognisable as having the same basic body shape and measurements as Kouros; maybe it is possible that he could still be classed as one of the Kouroi, but he will lack the classic pose. Kouros, referencing Venus the classic beauty, has no arms. Kosta also has no legs.   Like Kouros,...

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More thinking, shaping, stitching...
25 August 2012

Blog

On a dark grey background, a close-up of soft sculpture heads, Kouros and Koure leaning into eachother

Back in 2006 'Bare Boards and Blue Stilettos' was an uncomfortable installation immersing the audience in faulty communication and uncertain access. I began working on it in 2005, it was my first major piece of Disability Art. Fanny the (animated) wheelchair, never made it beyond BB&BS, but Jessie...   Jessie seeks to be 'People Like You' - she was my first soft sculpture, born out of despair (unlike Kouros and Koure), reaching down into the depths to make her connections. When '(it...

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Commissioned conversations, another Con.Text
18 August 2012

Blog

Portrait of the soft sculpture figure where Photoshop has enabled rich green, purple-pink, blue and yellow colours and a quirky misalignment of layers

 I am totally looking forward to making an official start on my DAO Diverse Perspectives Commission conversations! After sitting in residence at Salisbury Arts Centre last year and creating my first conversation/ text work they were keen to see me develop the possibilities. Initial talks with the then Director of Salisbury Arts Centre focused on a visual presention and People Like You, the exhibition, began to take shape. I have already started on the preliminary writing, but it is...

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Soft Sculpture - body project
14 August 2012

Blog

four white fabric nipples arranged in a square on faded grey decking, seen between blossoms of a whit agapanthus plant.

The agapanthus in my green and white garden has never looked more stunning. A jungle of green shades and textures surrounds and inspires my outdoors working. Sun warms my bones and enables these quiet moments when pain takes second place. Indoors my floor is strewn with body parts. And Jessie has finally lost her hair. I have been reluctant to remove the long black dreads, but since Kouros, my soft sculpture figures have had no hair; Jessie, who is being worked on from (what were) the toes up,...

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The body project.
29 July 2012

Blog

Close-up portrait of Kouros's stitched white muslin face, on grainy background

The Hayward Rat (Rattus Flattus) has proved positively inspirational. There is work queuing up to be let out of my head and there are days when this queue and clamour paralyse my choosing process. The Hayward Rat has brought Kouros and the body project right up to the front of the queue. The body project aims to resurrect Jessie from 'Bare Boards and Blue Stilettos'. At the time, she made dramatic impact, but I felt she needed to be a little more explicit. I was asking people to use their...

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