Hand Dance
From the time I became fascinated by the imagery of x-rays and the human skeleton, it has been important to me to ground my work in anatomical reality. As Artist in Residence at the NYU School of Medicine I have been able to observe dissections and draw directly from bones and cadavers in the Anatomy Lab. Being able to view their form and texture up close, learning to recognize normal variations and distinguish them from the idiosyncratic details of my own anatomy as seen in my 3D scan images (below), has really helped to bring my drawings to life.
The hand is the part of the body where the underlying anatomy is most visible on the surface, and you can easily feel the shape of almost every bone, and many of the muscles and tendons, just under the skin. I thought this was a good place to take advantage of being in the Anatomy Lab by going back to anatomical basics, seeking a clearer understanding of the dynamics of movement.
I think of the hands as the most ‘conscious’ part of the body – most closely associated with mental processes, closest to the surface of the aware self. My hands are the voice of my body, of my artist self.
Hands have the greatest number and variety of nerve endings of any part of the body, and the largest area in the brain devoted to receiving and responding to their signals. This gives them the most sensitivity to nuances of feeling, and the greatest ability to respond with subtlety – to learn and know things about the otherness they encounter.
‘Palegold hands’ (above) is a drawing I made several years ago that has continued to resonate with me – so I decided to make it the centerpiece of a new series. Here I’ll continue my exploration of my own body and deconstruct ‘the anatomy of a moment,’ focusing on the hands – not in isolation but connected, as they are, to arms, shoulder girdle, rib cage and spine, lungs and heart, and ultimately to spinal cord and brain.
‘Hand Dance’ is a series in progress that will take shape on this website, with new drawings posted as they are completed, along with a journal-like text that documents the process, and it will eventually become a new artist’s book.