For her second solo show at the gallery, Isabel Yellin investigates our relationship with the synthetic. The genesis of this body of work began with the notion of “skin and bone”, with the artist creating her own play on this theme using PVC leatherette and corset boning.
The stark artificiality of these objects, stretched against the walls like futuristic animal hides nod towards human nature and satiability. Yellin considers touch the basic starting point for creating an emotional attachment with a thing or person. For her, texture and physical contact is fundamental to individual perspective. By discovering these fabrics on fetish websites by chance, Yellin found a world of materials that feeds off of that natural inclination to experience firstly through touch.
In earlier work, Yellin combined many different textiles in order to address an entire web of experiences, whereas here she simplifies the work down to a basic question of urge, attraction, and need. This work challenges our instincts and cultural norms, while also pleasing and teasing our senses.
Isabel Yellin, is a graduate of the RCA, who lives between New York and London. Late last year she was published as one of thirty artists to watch in the Art Newspaper.