Unwanted Flesh is an exhibition showcasing the work of Delphi Campbell and her exploration of disability and sexuality through luxuriously tactile mediums. The exhibition is a deeply personal study of the artist's body, presented through an eclectic assortment of materials, ranging from smooth silks to tightly knitted wool. The collection of her work appears to demonstrate the complex and emotional relationship an individual has with their own body, more specifically a disabled body through a queer lens.
The exhibition begins with her initial paintings, which appear to have inspired the rest of her project. The small paintings feature striking naked self-portraits of the artist exuding a powerful vulnerability, reminiscent of Egon Schiele. They are both captivating and uncomfortable in equal measure, as they do not seek to flatter the female body.
They present a rawness through red, bony elbows and shoulders, yet this is not at the expense of their beauty. The brutally honest depiction of a body alludes to the theme of otherness that is apparent in Campbell’s work. Her paintings reflect the juxtaposition of the joy and pain that comes with having a body, and in the context of chronic illness, the notion that your own body can fail you.
Campbell alludes to her experience of chronic illness in a wall made up of various materials stretched over wooden frames inspired by medical micrographs of her cells. In doing so, Campbell turns the micro into macro, her work being noticeably large in size, making it evermore impactful to the viewer. As the exhibition transitions from painting to textile, it creates a powerful desire in the viewer to reach out and touch the artwork and explore their contrasting textures.
Campbell notes that there is a sense of “untouchability” in relation to the disabled community, and here she directly seeks to contradict that. She combines the realities of chronic illness with sexuality, as the exhibition is united in the theme of a hot, sensuous and playful pink. Its colour pallet is clever in its multitude of connotations.
It draws the viewer’s mind to that of raw flesh, some pieces being akin to skin stretched across a canvas, ready for inspection. Yet simultaneously, it alludes to sex and the desire to be touched. It is feminine, garish, and unapologetically loud.
Campbell’s art addresses uncomfortable topics which people often shy away from through enticing the viewer to touch and feel her work. Furthermore, in the culmination of the exhibition, Campbell allows the viewer to quite literally become part of the artwork itself. The pinnacle of the exhibition is a mosaic of fleshy pink and red fabrics that stretch across the floor, ceiling and walls at the back end of the studio.
Campbell invites the viewer to remove their shoes and step inside the strange, padded, womb-like nest which consists of a plethora of textures. Hot pink faux fur is sewn alongside cyst-like rubber sacks. Red stuffed fabric hangs from the ceiling like a giant uvula above your head and knitted swirls lie under your feet like veins.
To top it off, the ominous thud of a beating heart is emitted from the walls. Campbell’s centrepiece encourages her audience to sit and stay a while, as if they were red blood cells in a giant body made of textiles. It is an excellent reminder of the individual relationships we all have with our bodies, one that is equally unnerving as it is comforting.
Unwanted Flesh is a must-see and is showcased at Cardiff Made Gallery in Roath.