Tactile Fetish

I was seduced by the textures in Tiffany Besonen's installation, "Ambiotic," at Soho20 gallery. I didn't know it, but yellowed sewing pattern paper dipped in wax produces some type of tactile fetish in me. Besides these materials, the installation uses wooden ironing boards, the artist's own hair, and basswood logs. The sewing pattern paper is cut up and layered to resemble a pear shape. However, they look more like beehives, which fits nicely with this meditation on mothering and female roles. I like that the artist went a step further with this "found art" and transformed the objects into something new while still retaining hints of their origins. (Images via www.mnartists.org and Soho20 gallery)