Vent

From the early years of her career, Livingstone has demonstrated a strong interest in the human body. She began making sculptural work in felt that consciously referred to the body in 1990. Felt seemed a perfect metaphor for skin, resembling hide while acting as a membrane. Initially abstract and sensual, by 1994 the bodily references were more overt and organ-like, with wrinkled areas, projecting tubes, and bloody coloring. Throat, Collar, and Vent, conceived as a set, are powerful works that present the viewer with an uncomfortable paradox: from a distance they represent something normally hidden and repugnant, while close up they are actually quite beautiful in color and surface treatment.