Artist Feature: Jamie McCartney
Embracing the individuality and differences of genitalia.
Sculptor Jamie McCartney challenges the viewer, exploring what most of us wonder about, “How different are my genitals?” He embraces their individuality and differences through many of his projects, specifically The Great Wall of Vagina. Throughout art history there has been a misogynistic approach to what the standard female form looks like, sadly this still exists in the world today. In much of McCartney’s work, he brings to light the insecurities women hold on the aesthetic detail of their genitals. Men, alike, often experience this insecurity, which McCartney also explores in some of his castings. In his Great Wall of Vagina exhibition McCartney cast 400 vaginas, all perfectly unique and individual.
“My artworks demonstrate a career-long commitment to experimentation. Often using the body as inspiration, I work with traditional and novel materials utilizing many of my own processes. Not content with simply making beautiful things, there is often a socio-political agenda in my work, a result of my life as an activist as a young man.”I’m fascinated by the power of emotionally loaded subjects and objects and how to lend that power to my artworks. I’m interested in reprographic processes, dovetailing casts and experimental photography into my working practice. I also like to use humor to break down barriers and encourage public engagement with tricky subjects. No subject is too taboo. When I find something that obsesses me I have to pick at that thread until I can tease out what I am trying to say. I’m no stranger to controversy.”
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Jamie McCartney, an English sculptor, trained at Hartford Art School, USA, from where he graduated with highest honors in1991. He lives and works as an full time artist in Brighton, England, where he is obsessively exploring his interest in the human condition. McCartney has held several solo and group exhibitions throughout the globe, offering him much recognition. He has been featured in multiple press publications and has made several media appearances. His media exposure has given him the opportunity to spread his art and philosophies, being fully committed to the concept of a global art community. To view more of his work, visit his artist site here.