Elizabeth Kostojohn
Hurt & Damage
Hurt & Damage is a series of graphite drawings generated by the contemplation of my own vulnerability, my memories of physical/emotional pain, and the experience of being a female in a male world. The soft-fleshed pear and the domestic tool are common objects engaged in an uncommon way. The viewer is simultaneously drawn in and repulsed as the fruit suffers from the unjust and excessive aggression of the tools. Each still life is a meditation on conflict and injury, instead of on a fertile and sumptuous ideal.

This series takes an objective, or detached, view of the subject. These drawings are meant to elicit thoughts and feelings, rather than to represent an abstraction of emotions. This work does not shout; it is silent.

The creation of my drawings is slow and meditative. The graphite allows me to gradually develop the materials, textures, and feelings of each investigation. The Mylar, while being tough and durable, has a delicacy that relates to both our corporeal and emotional selves.
BACK TO PORTFOLIO