‘Celestial Body, Southern Hemisphere’ is a four metre x 2metre wall piece that traces a body map of points as pins and lights.
Using a photocopy of the back, front and sides of her body Dyson creates a constellation of lights that mark the moles and scars on her skin.
The work emerges initially from the response of living under an unfamiliar night sky. The realisation that even without any particular interest or expertise we internalise the map of our familiar surrounds (stars, bird sounds, food smells) which when lost create a sense of dislocation. The work equates the moles and marks on the body with a map of the landscape. The materials used are those of the draughtsman or chart maker, and have a quasi – scientific feel. The pins prick the body like a witch finders needle. In the context of contemporary fears of skin marks – be they pigmentation, scars or melanomas, the work draws attention to history of the body through its scars.
Created whist artist in residence with International Art Space Kellerberin (IASKA) in the agricultural town of Kellerberrin, on the Great Easter Highway, WA, Australia, 2001.