Kristen Tordella-Williams
Electoral District Prints
2016
Laser etched woodblock prints on Chinese and artist made kozo papers, black thread, and T-pins
Each print is 3'x4'
Electoral District Prints
2016
Laser etched woodblock prints on Chinese and artist made kozo papers, black thread, and T-pins
Each print is 3'x4'
Work Statement: In Electoral District Prints (2016), I took scans of my body and etched those images onto wood blocks using a laser. I then printed them in a grid on four different sheets of paper, two of my handmade kozo sheets and two on Chinese rice paper. I then projected a map of my Mississippi State Congressional voting district onto the prints and traced the different districts onto the paper. I ripped each print along the district lines and sewed them back together with visible black thread, akin to that used to stitch wounds. The resulting image represents the body politic as it directly relates to my body and existence. Living in a conservative state where politicians are removed from the needs of their constituents directly inspired this work. Often, government policies function negatively for individuals’ free choice and the health of our bodies.
Artist bio: Kristen Tordella-Williams is an associate professor of art at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS who received her BFA in Sculpture from Umass Dartmouth in 2010 and her MFA in Sculpture from Alfred University in 2012. She has shown nationally and internationally, most recently at a castle and monastery in Salem, Germany. Kristen's interests lie in the layers of the impressions left by our bodies on the environment around us and the reciprocal impressions our bodies hold from the wear and tear of living. She re-interprets the remnants of labor, identity, gender, and memory, discovered or made and is inspired by processes such as performance, papermaking, sculpture or printmaking as well as materials commonly found in hardware stores, supermarkets and recycling bins.
