I Rip the Slit, is an exploration of the human psyche and how it relates to our bodily

experiences. Artists Alannah Dair and Renee Poli use expanded painting as a lens to

engage with the body as a lived experience, not as a separation of body and mind

categories.

Alannah Dair creates surrogate object-bodies that act as manifestations of her experience

with chronic illness. The impetus for her work comes from living with a gynaecological

condition called endometriosis. In creating her work Dair allows herself to process the

problematic relationship she has with her body as she grieves the loss of her former self

(before the onset of her symptoms). The work acts as a cathartic way to explore the

perpetual feedback loop between the exterior world and the interior body and the effects

of social attitudes on actual lived experience in relation to health and illness.

Renee Poli’s work seeks to engage with her sense of self, to explore the masking and

layering of identities as they relate to her mind and body. She experiments with the

layering of wool and sheer material to sift through the imprints her bodily experiences

have left on her, and the fragility of her sense of self.