UNWANTED FLESH - WRITING FROM POPPY JONES LITTLE
Thinking back to 2022, I stepped into Delphi’s work and muttered ‘this feels like being in a pocket’ as I nestled into a lint-abundant pouch complete with half-used and half-forgotten effects.
Similarly, entering into 'Unwanted Flesh' feels like burrowing your hand into a pouch or cavity. You are met with warmth, with comfort and tenderness - but something isn’t quite right. You feel around and encounter grit, knotted hair, hardened pelt. You can’t quite put your finger on it. It is not so much like being inside a pocket, as being inside a tumour, cyst or sac, palpating past the pulpy unwantedness.
At a glance the smallest of marks, ligatures and stitches give rise to a misshapen body - dripping, drooping and all hanging out. Pools of red light ooze from looming silicone vesicles. The red light evokes sex and pleasure, but also therapy - red light therapy can heal relentless wounds and abrasions. I don’t doubt that this is a space for healing. Patterns lifted from micrographs, scans and fingerprints are spread across the space, a corporal imprint of the artist’s actual body.
Wrth feddwl nôl i 2022, camais mewn i waith Delphi a mwmian ‘mae hyn yn teimlo fel bod mewn poced’ wrth i fi swatio mewn i sach doreithiog o lint wedi’i gwblhau gydag effeithiau wedi’u hanner-defnydddio a hanner-anghofio.
Yn debyg, mae mynd i mewn i 'Unwanted Flesh' yn teimlo fel claddu eich llaw mewn i gwdyn neu geudod. Cyfarfu chi â chynhesrwydd, gyda chyforddusrwydd ac addfwynder-ond dydy rhywbeth ddim cweit yn iawn. Dych chi’n teimlo o gwmpas a’n dod ar draws graen, clymau gwallt, croen wedi caledu. Methu cweit rhoi eich bys arno. Nid yw fwy fel bod tu mewn poced, a fyddai bod tu mewn tiwmor, syst neu wysigen, gan basio heibio’r pwlp annymunedig.
Ar gipolwg, mae’r marciau lleiaf, y rhwymau a’r pwythau’n dadorchuddio corff aflun- yn diferu, ymollwng a’i gyd yn hongian allan. Pyllau o olau coch yn tasgu allan o chwysigen silicon ar y gorwel. Y golau coch yn nawsaidd o ryw a phleser, ond hefyd therapi – mae therapi golau coch yn gallu lleddfu craethau didostur a ffrithiant. Nid wyf yn amau bod y gofod hwn ar gyfer lleddfu. Taenir patrymau wedi’u codi o ficrograffau, sganiau ac ôl bysedd ar draws y gofod, argraffnod gorfflen o gorff yr artist.
The self-portraiture is generous and offers itself up, reaching outward. You are invited in without assumption or instruction, the opening is left ajar but there is no expectation.
The work murmurs ‘act how you like, feel what you want’. We are gently encouraged to see ourselves in the squishy knotted messes, to move and breathe amongst the bodies and parts. The caricatured ribs, contorted lungs and parodied skins are both inviting and unnerving - these parts could be from anyone, any-body.
The act of salvaging (and giving salvation to) materials underpins Delphi’s practice. The work holds tight to lumps of stuff which are no longer desired by others, or are seen as unpleasant or rejected:
Mae’r hunan-bortreadu yn hael ac yn dyrchafu ei hun, yn ymestyn allan. Cewch eich gwahodd mewn heb amheuaeth na chyfarwyddyd, cedwir y mynediad yn agored ond does dim disgwyliad. Mae’r gwaith yn mwmian ‘ymddwyn sut ti eisiau, teimla beth ti eisiau’. Cawn ein hannog yn bwyllog i weld ein hunain yn y cawl clymog meddal, i symud ac anadlu ymysg y cyrff a’r rhannau. Mae’r asennau digrifol, ysgyfaint gwyrdoriol a chroen parodïol yn groesawgar ac yn ameswmyth- gall y darnau hyn berthyn i unrhyw un, unrhyw gorff.
Yn sail i ymarfer Delphi, mae’r weithred o achub (a rhoi achubiaeth i) ddeunyddiau. Mae’r gwaith yn gafael yn dynn mewn lympiau o bethau sydd bellach ddim yn cael ei dyheu gan eraill, neu’n cael eu gweld yn amhleserus neu’n wrthodedig:
dust, wool, hair, glitter, threads, bent pins, fibres, feathers, latex speckles, tatters, torn lace, lint
//
llwch, gwlân, glityr, edau, pinnau plyg, ffeibr, plu, sbeclau latecs, carpiau, las wedi rhwygo, lint
These ragged half-forms and off-cuts are given place amongst foamy satin mounds, mirrored surfaces and buttery translucent fabrics. There is a sense that this body (of work) is in a perpetual cycle of shedding and then reabsorbing, feeding upon itself.
There is no such thing as ‘waste’, every part is hoarded, amassed and reserved - just in case. The body consumes and re-consumes - it is a feast. This feasting spans years, as seen in the clump of vibrant pink hair which features the wig worn by Delphi during her 2018-19 performance works. The colours are highly synthetic, radioactively so. With everything so shockingly pink, you question whether this body is meant for consumption, or whether it might be poisonous.
Rhoddir lle i’r carpiau hanner-ffurf a thoriadau yma ymysg tomennu satin ewynnog, arwynebau adlewyrchol a ffabrig tryloyw. Mae yno synnwyr bod y corff hwn (o waith) mewn cylchedd beunyddiol o ddigroeni ac yna ail-amsugno, yn bwydo oddi ar ei hun.
Does dim math beth a ‘gwastraff’, mae bob rhan wedi ei gronni, grynhoi a’i gadw-jest rhag ofn. Mae’r corff yn dihoeni ac ail-ddihoeni- mae’n wledd. Mae’r gwledda yma’n pontio blynyddoedd, fel gwelir yn y lwmp o wallt pinc llachar sy’n nodweddu'r wig gwisgodd Delphi yn ystod ei gwaith perfformiadol yn 2018-19. Mae’r lliwiau’n hynod synthetig, yn ymbelydrol. Gyda phopeth mor syfrdanol o binc, dych chi’n cwestiynu os yw’r corff hwn ar gyfer conswmsiwn, neu a fyddai’n wenwynig
We cannot ignore the underlying threat of these gloriously pillowy lumps. The lump is known for its ability to not be known - for its boundlessness, its lack of strict form and sticky edges. There is a fear in this not-knowing, an unnerve evoked by sprawling, ravaging objects. This work embraces the unknown, while also placing it under a microscope - illuminating it with (red) light to see what might be gleaned. Delphi holds the lumps close in order to disarm them.
I am reminded of the powerful lineage of women and sculpture, bodily or otherwise, soft or otherwise ~ Lee Bul, Simone Leigh, Alina Szapocznikow, Judith Scott, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Eva Fabregas, Sheila Hicks ~ the body is always with us, we are body-ridden, for better or worse. We are stuck with all of its needs, commands and sufferings - sluggish, loud, inconvenient bodies. Delphi’s body of work is burrowed amongst this sculptural heritage, but it also eats its way through it - chewing it into a pulp, and rebuilding it into a nest to nurture new forms or ways of being.
Ni allwn anwybyddu’r bygythiad isymwybodol y lympiau clustogol coneddus. Mae’r lwmp yn adnabyddus am ei allu i fod yn anhysbys- am ei anherfynoldeb, ei ddiffyg ffurf gaeth ac ymylon gludog. Mae yno ofn yn yr anwybodaeth yma, teimlad anesmwyth o’r gwrthrychau llech anrheithgar. Cofleidia’r gwaith hwn yr anhysbys, tra hefyd yn ei osod o dan ficrosgop, yn ei oleuo gyda golau (coch) i weld beth sydd efallai’n hel olion. Daliai Delphi’r lympiau’n agos er mwyn eu diarfu.
Dwi’n cael fy atgoffa o’r llinach pwerus o fenywod a cherfluniaeth, yn gorfforol neu fel arall, yn feddal neu arall ~ Lee Bul, Simone Leigh, Alina Szapocznikow, Judith Scott, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Eva Fabregas, Sheila Hicks ~ y corff wastad gyda ni, dyn ni’n wared i’n corff, er gwell neu waith. Dy ni’n styc gyda’i holl anghenion, orchmynion a dioddefaint- cyrff swrth, swnllyd anghyfleus. Mae corff o waith Delphi wedi claddu ymysg y dreftadaeth gerfluniol yma, ond hefyd yn bwyta’i ffordd drwyddo- yn ei gnoi mewn i bwlp, a’n ei ailadeiladu mewn i nyth i faethu ffurfiau newydd o fod.
‘There has to be a nest’
//
‘Mae’n rhaid cael nyth’
Nests and cysts alike rely upon pre-existing structures, they depend upon having an architecture to cling onto, feed upon and rest into. Often these nests and cysts unsettle the chosen structure, undermining or impeding it in some capacity. These are potentially disruptive forces. There is a tension here: nests and cysts both simultaneously depend upon and break down structures/bodies/ spaces.
This tension thrums around the nest/pouch/body, with intuitive motions both building up and breaking down. There is absolute care in every stitch and bind, but also volatile compulsion in each violent cut, splice, tear. I have withheld the words 'monstrous’ and ‘grotesque’ up until now, largely as both terms are loaded with (and hindered by) often unhelpful art historical references which are almost completely devoid of joy. And there is something so wildly joyous, kitsch and camp in the work - each ounce is imbued with a radical love for bodies. The acceptance of your body into such a space is a liberation.
The body of work stems from Delphi’s physical experience of being a queer, disabled woman within a wider system which actively works to repress, exploit and silence. Pain reverberates at both a bodily and societal level, and we recognise its familiar thumping and pounding. This is not about ‘making invisible pain visible’ as such pain is never invisible, not if you have an ounce of compassion, not if you are willing to listen a little bit closer...
Yn debyg, mae nythod a chodenni’n dibynnu ar strwythurau cynfodol, maent yn dibynnu ar gael pensaernïaeth i gydio arno, bwydo arno ac ymlacio ynddo. Yn aml mae’r nythod a chodenni yma’n ansefydlogi’r strwythur dewisedig, yn ei danseilio neu ei hualu mewn rhyw fodd. Mae’r rhain yn rym gyda photensial ysgytwol. Mae yno densiwn yma: mae nythod a chodenni’n dibynnu ar ac yn dinistrio strwythurau/cyrff/gofodau.
Mae’r tensiwn yma’n eddi o gwmpas y nyth/cwdyn/corff, gyda symudiadau greddfol yn adeiladu a’n dymchwel. Mae yno ofal llawn ym mhob pwyth a rhwym, ond hefyd cymhelliant cyfnewidiol ym mhob toriad, uniad a rhwyg treisgar. Dw’i wedi osgoi’r geiriau ‘anghenfilaidd’ a ‘digrifddull’ hyd yma, i raddau helaeth oherwydd bod y termau’n cario cyfeiriadau amherthnasol o hanes celf sy’n amddifadu llonder. Ac mae yno rhywbeth mor wyllt o llon, kitsch a camp yn y gwaith- pob owns a chariad radical am gyrff wedi ei dreiddio ynddo. Rhyddhad yw dy gorff yn cael ei dderbyn mewn i’r fath ofod.
Mae’r corff o waith yn deillio o brofiadau corfforol Delphi o fod yn ddynes cwiar, anabl, o fewn system ehangach sy’n gweithio i ormesu, ecsploetiaeth a distawu. Mae poen yn atseinio ar lefel gorfforol a chymdeithasol, ac rydym yn adnabod ei drawiad a phwniad cyfarwydd. Nid yw hwn amdan ‘gwneud poen anweledig yn weledol’, i raddau dydy poen byth yn anweledig, nid os oes gennych owns o dosturi, nid os ydych yn barod i wrando ychydig yn agosach…
- POPPY JONES LITTLE, 2024
MADE Solo Art Prize
The MADE Solo Art Award was established in 2016 to propel and support the career of artists based in South Wales through the production of a new body of work for exhibition within a year of the award through mentoring and funded studio time.
Made gallery and the artist recipients Zena Blackwell, Lucia Jones, Ellie Young, Kate Shooter & Delphi Campbell have been supported through production grants from the Arts Council of Wales, and since 2021 through the generous sponsorship of HannaH.
Gwobr Celf Unawd MADE
Sefydlwyd Gwobr Celf Unigol MADE i hybu a chefnogi gyrfa artistiaid sydd wedi’u lleoli yn Ne Cymru, trwy fentora, a thrwy amser stiwdio wedi’i ariannu, gyda’r nod o gynhyrchu corff newydd o waith i’w arddangos o fewn blwyddyn o dderbyn y wobr.
Mae’r artistiaid sydd wedi derbyn y wobr hyd yn hyn, Zena Blackwell, Lucia Jones, Ellie Young, Kate Shooter a Delphi Campbell wedi cael eu cefnogi drwy grantiau Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru, ac ers 2021 drwy nawdd hael Sefydliad HannaH.
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