Skeletal embodiment connects Iris van Herpen & Courtney Mattison
Installation view ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’, GOMA 2024 / Photograph: N Umek © QAGOMA / View full image
Courtney Mattison’s practice involves translating the effects of climate change on the fragile beauty of coral reefs through the creation of sculptural installations of stoneware and porcelain. The ceramic wall relief Malum Geminos 2019 in ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) until 7 October 2024 depicts bleached coral forms branching horizontally in a reflected pattern across the wall.
Watch | Courtney Mattison installs ‘Malum Geminos’
The title of Mattison’s work is taken from a speech by American environmental scientist Dr Jane Lubchenco at the United Nations climate talks, held in Copenhagen in 2009, in which she referred to ocean acidification as the ‘evil twin’ (the Malum Geminos of the Latin title) of climate change. Ocean acidification results from the increased uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as Dr Lubchenco explained:
I call this ocean acidification climate change’s equally evil twin . . . As the oceans become more acidic, it’s harder for corals, oysters, clams, crabs, mussels, lobsters to make their shells or their hard parts, and they dissolve faster. So ocean acidification, which is a relatively unappreciated problem, is as important as climate change.
The skeletal nature of Mattison’s artwork also recalls Dr Lubchenco’s insightful comparison of ocean acidification as the ‘osteoporosis of the seas’.
DELVE DEEPER: Journey through ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’
Mattison’s installation can be seen in the exhibition theme ‘Skeletal embodiment’, the works by Iris van Herpen in this room reveal our insides on the outside. Encasing the figure like an exoskeleton, the iconic Skeleton 2011 dress (illustrated) — resembling bones or hard cartilage — occupies a space halfway between fashion and sculpture. Like a mirror of the human skeleton, this hybrid dress creates a fictional exoskeleton around the wearer.
Iris van Herpen ‘Skeleton’ dress 2011
Iris van Herpen, Netherlands b.1984 / Isaïe Bloch (Collaborator), Belgium b.1986 / Materialise (Collaborator), Belgium est.1990 / Skeleton dress, from the ‘Capriole’ collection 2011 installed in ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’, GOMA 2024 / 3D-printed polyamide using selective laser sintering / Worn by actor and model Milla Jovovich in Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld, The Little Black Jacket Book: Chanel’s Classic Revisited (published by Steidl, 2012) / © & courtesy: Iris van Herpen atelier / Photograph: N Umek © QAGOMA / View full image
Iris van Herpen ‘Aerology’ jumpsuit 2021 worn by model Winnie Harlow
From the ‘Earthrise’ collection, the Aerology jumpsuit is reminiscent of a bat skeleton, exposing a complex structural anatomy that is usually hidden to the human eye and translating it into intricate shapes that weave and whirl around the body. Requiring over 800 hours of labour to create, the pearlescent pattern is made from hand-cast silicone shapes that are hand-stitched onto laser-cut outlines and adorn a bodysuit in black stretch tulle. Like an infinitely delicate second skin, the ensemble appears at once graceful and turbulent, as, when worn, the cape recalls a whirlwind, cyclone or storm as it unfurls and swirls around the body.
Iris van Herpen, Netherlands b.1984 / Aerology jumpsuit, from the ‘Earthrise’ collection 2021 / Silicone, tulle, laser-cut crepe, glass organza, mylar / Worn by model Winnie Harlow at the Met Gala, New York, 2021 / © Iris van Herpen atelier / Photograph: N Umek © QAGOMA / View full image
Watch | Journey through ‘Sculpting the Senses’
Watch | Iris van Herpen in conversation
‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ / Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Brisbane / 29 June to 7 October 2024, across the ground floor in The Fairfax Gallery (1.1), Gallery 1.2, and the Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery (1.3).
The exhibition is co-organised by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris and QAGOMA, Brisbane, based on an original exhibition designed by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.