Mesmerizing Flesh: The Visceral Corporeality of Tamara Kostianovsky's Textile Sculptures Favorite 

For artists exploring themes of violence towards humans and animals, there is a fine line between thoughtfully engaging and needlessly shocking the viewer; being sensationally explicit can turn people away while being tacit or innocuous may fail to make an impact. New York based artist Tamara Kostianovsky has been successfully walking this line for two decades with her textile sculptures which often take the form of animal carcasses poignantly hanging from metal hooks as in a slaughterhouse. From the mutilated rib cages and leg bones of cattle and pigs to the lifeless bodies of dangling pheasants, geese and other game birds, the gruesome realism of Kostianovsky’s work is balanced by the soft textures and vibrant colours of the materials she uses, namely discarded clothing which she predominantly sources from her own closet. In creating faux fabric taxidermy, it takes unbridled imagination and meticulous technique to be able to transform worn clothes, towels and linens into naturalistic flesh tones, gory ligaments, richly textured animal fat, and exotic bird feathers.

Kostianovsky’s work speaks of our all-too-comfortable intimacy with violence toward animals but her work also touches upon larger sociological, geopolitical and ecological issues. The use of discarded fabric for example speaks of our consumer culture and specifically fast fashion industry’s negative effects on the planet; “Nature made flesh”, a series of flesh-like tree stumps and abandoned logs, are a symbol of environmental devastation; while “Fowl Decorations”, a series of three-dimensional tapestries, subvert the exoticized iconography of colonial-era French wallpaper designs. At the same time, the incorporation of women’s wardrobes into animal remains is a denouncement of the influence of authoritarianism on the female body, an issue she became aware of while growing up in Argentina during the military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s.

On the occasion of Kostianovsky’s latest exhibition, “Mesmerizing Flesh” at Ogden Contemporary Arts (on view until April 16, 2023), Yatzer caught up with the artist to talk about her art practice, growing up in Argentina, and her latest series, “Tropical Abattoir”, in which she has infused the animal carcasses with a cornucopia of tropical flowers, birds and vines.

(From yatzer)