Participatory Sculpture
Velvet, heat blanket, foam, duvet filling, wood, carpet.
Affected Forms, Luan Gallery, Athlone. 2026.
For Blezzing | For Isobel
These sculptures are from the transdisciplinary body of work 'Resonances Ripples. The connecting sculptures invite visitors to engage through their bodies and senses, becoming active participants in the work. The shapes and dimensions of the sculptures were informed by participants in workshops tailored for disability and queer communities held in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios called 'Just There'. The workshops explored how to alter arts spaces they often feel excluded from to focus on their bodies and comfort. Each sculpture is named after the person who informed its design.
Plush, cushioned sculptures invites visitors to engage through their bodies and senses, becoming active participants to offer moments of comfortable engagement and intimacy , accommodating different bodies and capacities and inviting visitors to lie down, recline or sit. The plush velvet holds remnants of touch from previous bodies. The work pivots on the transferrence of touch across time, space, and bodies; by engaging with the work, we enter into community with others we may never mieet.
A heat blanket is below the velvet of the reclining sculpture 'For Blezzing'. Warmth was sought after by the participants of 'Just There' workshops as cold spaces can worsen pain and discomfort. It added to the participants bodies feeling thought about within a space. Heat is a transforming sensation to evoke comfort and intimacy. It is often used to deter pain, sometimes by causing other competitive pain.