apples from Katie Huckson on Vimeo.
- 10 Apr 2022 6 pm UTC
- dur 23 min
Apples are a common symbol for eating disorders. They are also associated
with health and wellness, as low-glycemic, fibrous fruits that (according
to the adage) ward off doctors. Apples were also a signal in my family for
the end of a meal. At my maternal grandparent’s table, my nonno peeling an
apple and cutting it into slices to pass around to the grandchildren after
sharing a large meal was a ritual conclusion to every gathering.
In Apples I enter a doctor’s office that I built, modeled after my
childhood general practitioner’s clinic. In this space, I sit on the
medical table waiting for the doctor to see me. He never does. I begin
peeling apples and cutting them onto a plate. I leave the plate behind,
never receiving clinical care or intervention.
This work is part of a series in which I navigate experiences with clinical
treatment for my eating disorder. The clinic as a site embedded in systemic
surveillance, discipline, and penalization is often a theme within this
body of work. In building my own clinic and orchestrating rituals and
performances within this space, I reassert my agency and subjectivity
within treatment settings, shifting at my will between roles of clinician,
patient, and artist.
Katie Huckson is an interdisciplinary artist with an interest in sentimentality, melancholy, disturbance, disorder, loss, and fear. Often her work is motivated by a struggle to control, or a perpetual sense of longing for something lost and/or unattainable. She draws from deeply personal experiences, insecurities, and memories to make work that aims to reach others in its awkward honesty. Traditionally trained in painting and drawing, her passion is presently for digital media, collage, and performance. Huckson graduated with a BFA from Algoma University in 2013 and received her MFA from the University of Windsor in 2017. She has exhibited across Canada and abroad and has participated in residencies in Colorado, Italy, and Vietnam. Her video, Normal Disorders, won Best Picture at the Lights, Camera, Take Action Film Festival at the University of Colorado in 2018. In 2019, she performed an artwork for Occupy The Kitchen Vol.2 in Varese, Italy, supported by the Ontario Arts Council. Huckson is a sessional instructor at Algoma University and a P.h.D candidate in Communication, New Media, and Cultural Studies at McMaster University.ARTIST’S WEBSITE