THE SPACE BETWEEN YOUR NOSTRILS
by Sasha FIshman
Working with Hagfish: I raised five hagfish (deep sea eels) for six months in my studio in east LA, originally with the purpose of cultivating their slime fibers to use as reinforcement for biomaterials.
I quickly fell in love with the hagfish and became unable to slime them, as I did not want to stress them to induce their slime.
I watched them grow and cared for their environment but after six months the hagfish's health declined and shortly after two passed away. The others I released and gave to a local lab. I felt that I still needed to be with the hagfish -- one of the deceased was preserved in molds and casts, and the other lives on through its skin, tanned in egg yolk. I continue to research about their cause of their death as it relates to the environment and time.
The Space Between Your Nostrils (Installation)
Despite the jaw’s efforts, it fails to provide an adequate environment for the fish; they seep into despair, rotting into iodine-stained plaster ghosts below the pool. Mr. Winemaker lurks, thinking he is in hiding, he spies on his biofuel operation across the lake which appears to be smoking with clay. Algae grown from the jaw-fish-pool cycle is pumped and pressed to reveal a hagfish ghost, pressed and primed with time the bismuth cast material ascends from particles found in the stomachs of dissolved pepto bismol from lactose intolerance, and the decay of polonium matter from her majesty Marie Curie.
With time the jaw-fish-pool decays and it’s remains are mounted for the town to remember. A summer of chemical disasters, the pool became a styrofoam polyurethane saturated soup, boiling over into shards. Images slapped across the antique monument show Priscilla and Jasper of the village jaw-pool lake. They are celebrated at moments of confusion where death was uncertain but probable, where their bodies sloughed into medical curiosities of their caretaker.
Sasha FIshman
Sasha Fishman is a sculptor and researcher based in Los Angeles, originally from Baltimore, Maryland. She is particularly interested in marine biomaterials, toxicology + genetic engineering as points for critical analysis + mechanisms for sculpting. Fishman considers her studio practice to be equal parts research and creative output.
Fishman has exhibited at Spring/Break LA (2020); Ars Electronica, Los Angeles (2020);Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York (2019); Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles (2020); the Visual Arts Center, Austin (2019, 2018, 2017); and the Rosenberg Gallery at Goucher College, Baltimore (2019) among others. She has presented her work, run workshops and given talks at Caltech (2020), Genspace (2021), and UCLA, University of Denver, and CSULB (2021). She holds a B.F.A. in Studio Art from The University of Texas at Austin (2018). Fishman has been a recipient of numerous awards, including a grant from The Dallas Museum of Art (2018), research fellowships from Caltech (2020), The University of Texas at Austin (2018), and scholarships from The Baltimore Jewelry Center, Urban Glass, Oxbow and Anderson Ranch
Contact info
