Experimenting with themes of abstract figures based on the body alignments and movements of performers and dancers, in moments of stillness, sculpture and installation Artist, Holly Vaughan, fascinated with the world of dance from an early age, continues to associate incredible beauty with the forms of the human body and all it is capable of.

Born in South Africa, the 24 year old (seen above, on set for the laex project) has seen more of the world than most of us will have by the time we’re 50.  A variety of experiences and interests, from dancing to glass blowing, while growing up in 14 different countries may have given her a tastes for life rather a fear of it. In bold are mildly edited (arranged) extracts from her artist statement which best express her work.

      

Her sculptures carry tensions of tenacious feminine authority and roles of a submissive and helpless disposition. She consistently returns to certain forms or materials yet with each piece they are reinvented anew.

       

Sculptures are subtly erotic and harbour a rawness of which the material is primarily responsible for. Vaughan considers aspects of the beauty and identity of the human form to be sexual, so therefore work concerning the body – work not limited to art but the broader art world, especially dance – naturally becomes erotic in some manner.

      

Vaughan is infatuated with the freedom of the pure, almost holy, intimacy found between dancers. Taking inspiration from ambiguous forms found in nature and human biology, they convey qualities of vulnerability and fragility. The microscopic structures she visually studies, influence the figures so they appear to become distortions, bearing an ugliness that emerges as their strength. The figures are thus more inclined towards a sinister nature.

      

Drawing from her own experiences in dance, she admires the closeness and relationship that is created from the attitude, confidence and respect dancers hold for each other’s bodies, which, taken out of the dance world and placed into a different context in society would be amiss.

She is responsive to the female in dance, and their abilities to carry a sexuality with dignity and strength, whilst men seek for it as a source of sexual entertainment. Her visual language highlights her desire to honour this certain femininity throughout her practise in the dialogue she creates between her materials and the processes contained within her work.

      

      

Above, some pics from her Instagram board. More of Holly’s work can be seen on her website at: hollyvaughan.carbonmade.com