Ann Wachter
Forbidden Bodies (2024)
© Ann Wachter

SAIC Galleries,

33 E. Washington street, Chicago, IL
July 9 – 28, 2024

What to see

Five speculative bodies include letters, a postcard, poems, narratives, snippets of news articles, shredded books, paper art, fabrics, found objects, silhouettes, ads, homemade mycelium and musical scores — all of which work together and independently of one another.

My works are titled:

• Banned Books
• Capitalist Compositions
• Intersectional Feminism
• White Caste Culture – Midwest
• Obscene Body

My forms discreetly address the nature of writing, in terms of its presence and absence. Calligraphy and print are employed using invisible ink in order to form concrete connections between historical figures. Calligraphy is especially prominent in Intersectional Feminism (creating a triad relationship) and in Obscene Body (to track a surreal-style dream). I’d like to acknowledge a good friend, Michele Young, who meticulously copied each letter and note for my speculative forms while balancing a blacklight flashlight in the opposite hand.

I separately developed an inkjet method to print in invisible ink which I employ in Banned Books.

Dimensionally, each head measures 24 x 24” with varying depths; a hinged lid and hasp lock signifying solitude and solitary — prisons within and without. All heads are made of acrylic. All heads are, in art jargon, recto-verso reliefs.

I’d like to acknowledge the work of Val Wolfs, my art design engineer. In order to give my speculative bodies the depth and texture I believed necessary, Val and I embarked on a journey to bring them alive. Val built each of my frames (each, a human torso) to house a 24 x 24” acrylic box (each, my distilled version of the human heart/mind). Each piece mobilizes ideas about how contemporary society interacts with cultural and racial biases we face.

Each frame is composed of two or more of the following materials: wood, wheels, acrylic, brass. We chose poplar for its versatility; wenge, an exotic hardwood native to The Republic of Congo (the clothing rod in Intersectional Feminism); brass (the harpsichord/musical score/prison bars in White Caste Culture) and curled brass springs (the connective tissue of a surreal dreamscape in Obscene Body) .

I immerse each head and torso in reparative elements: Banned Books, Capitalist Compositions and Obscene Body contain mycelium, underground networks which nourish surrounding root systems and produce fruiting bodies, better known as mushrooms. Intersectional Feminism and White Caste Culture are musical in nature: musical scores, poetry written with iambic pentameter, brass harpsichord strings and a mini thumb piano.

Banned Books Display

Capitalist Compositions Display

Milk & Mushrooms (2024)
Collage on backing board
Blue Tit Anecdote (lower left) &
Blue Tit Silhouette (lower center)

Intersectional Feminism Display

White Caste Culture Display

Obscene Body Display