Bill Durgin’s work is driven by fascination with the body as form, as vessels of sensation and the use of still life as a visual investigation of corporeal memory.
Working within the studio he captures temporary sculpture using figures, foam, fluids, wigs, flowers, wood, bandaids, boxes and paint. These set components and props allow for exploration of minimalist compositional strategies and fractured emotional content.
His work is an attempt to transmogrify the figure, reshaping it into uncanny forms. By contorting the bodies to omit the head he removes the identity of the figure and focus on the body. This is done through body position and camera angle.
The contortions serve to reimagine the body, minimizing and exaggerating certain areas, thus creating an anamorphic form. Without their identity the focus can become the body as a sculptural object, one composed of skin, muscle, fat, and flesh.
Durgin has a very minimal aesthetic. When making pictures of “Figure studies” and “Nudes and still lifes” series he wanted the figure to be the focus of the image. He wanted them to be in a setting, that setting being the studio. This also alludes to removing the identity of of the figure, putting them in a sterile environment, devoid of context, but an environment nonetheless.
Bill Durgin was born in Vermont, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn. Durgin’s work has appeared in galleries throughout USA and Europe including Guest Projects in London, Klompching Gallery in Brooklyn and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Durgin lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Images courtesy of Bill Durgin
Discover: www.billdurgin.com
