Nº 002 — Early works (age 14)
CAT-1990s-002A way to speak when I didn't know how.
Provenance
These were made around the age of fourteen. They arrived recently in a box from a parent's house, filed under "childhood stuff." Most of the series has been lost over time. What remains is what you see here.
Context
Life was not kind before that age. The specific circumstances are not the subject of this catalog entry, except to say they are things no child should have to endure or witness.
At the time, the vocabulary for what was happening did not exist. Not vocally. These dolls were the vocabulary instead.
Methods
Toys were blowtorched. Dolls were submerged in paint thinner until they dissolved. Others were destroyed with improvised explosives — sugar and fertiliser packed into metal tubes. The process was systematic, deliberate, and repeated.
Looking at them now, the word "creativity" does not quite apply. "Expression" is closer. A scream given physical form when the actual scream had nowhere to go.
Condition note
The artist turned out fine.
Completely fine.
Our mothers tell us there are no monsters in the closet, in the dark, or under the bed. They do not warn us that the real ones come dressed as people.