ART – Textual Artwork by Amelia Edwards
By Audrey Deng
A collection of mixed media prints utilizing beadwork and collage, this interweaving of Gray’s Anatomy by Dr. Henry Gray and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a new narrative. Pride and Prejudice is the tale of the cultivation and beginning of romance awash in hope and ending on a note of future promise. Gray’s Anatomy focuses not on this emotional establishment of ties but instead scientific facts and it unveils the mystery behind the creation of the human body and its functions. Through the editing of these texts by means of removal, blocking, and highlighting of words this new work delves within and is instead a study of deterioration. The deterioration of a relationship, deterioration of a text, a deterioration of the image.
The process of deterioration may involve the destruction of old forms, however it also gives birth to a new state. Innately when something begins to degrade it becomes more vulnerable and exposed. In this work the highlight is on the degradation and deterioration of previously held thoughts and misconceptions about a relationship. While thoughts unravel upon the page, they are mere glimpses in the beginning through the highlighting of singular words. Pieces progress and with careful attention it can be seen that more of the story unravels as whole phrases begin to be highlighted and new ideas are written into the already existing texts. Images of the body are furthermore obscured to various degrees.
When something deteriorates its image can become unrecognizable, but beneath the surface there are always nagging reminders of what once was. The gentle placing of a hand on the waist, words that were once whispered in confidence, all of these small moments and touches that may have become disconnected from what exists in the end but in their own way continue to live on in remembrance.
Amelia Edwards is a Visual Arts and Psychology double major at Columbia University. Originally from Glen Ridge, New Jersey, she started off in high school creating art that was focused on the use of mixed media in colored pencil works. Since then, she has begun to explore different mediums and for the past two years as been focusing on combining printmaking, photography, and drawing to create mixed media works. Not only does she create art, but she also has a background in curation, curating an exhibit while participating in an internship program the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, New Jersey. She was also the director of business for the photography publication, Halcyon Magazine. More of her work can be found on her website.
