Pamela Council makes sculptures, performances, dedications, and jokes that transform materials, people, and institutions. Using an Afro-Americana camp aesthetic which she calls BLAXIDERMY, objects are set into motion in unique ways, exploring how we soothe, protect, fashion, celebrate, and enhance ourselves. With appreciation for themes like Americana, Black Girl Magic, the animated body, the pleasure principle, biomechanics, haptics, Council finds humor in all things to queer histories and reframe trauma. She manufactures her own materials like velvet, clay, fountains, and silicone objects, and combines them with mass-produced products related to self-soothing and bodily comfort. These include hair beads, sneaker rubber, acrylic fingernails, sugary drinks, backscratchers, lotion, and mouthwash. She uses her background in dance and craft traditions to freestyle with these; telling stories, making dedications, and leaving evidence. Pamela Council plays and makes objects come alive in new ways.
(Excerpt and image above selected from grant proposal. Artwork is copyright of the artist.)