Honey Long and Prue Stent have worked together for the past ten years, developing a practice that traverses photography, moving image, performance, installation and sculpture. Their art is grounded in experimentation between bodies, materials and environments, and creates a space for the animate versus inanimate – the human and other – to interweave. ‘We see the body as a microcosm and are constantly exploring environments to find moments, processes or formations that reflect a feeling or speak to the body in some way,’ the artists explain. ‘We try to find points of connection where the outside world and our inner worlds overlap.’
The body is ever-present throughout Drinking From The Eye, whether literally through a performative interaction, or appearing figuratively in the leaking eye of a rock pool, the plush lips of a sea creature or the tingling tentacles of a sea anemone. ‘From the micro worlds we explore – gardens, rock pools, ponds etc. – hybrid creatures and uncanny moments emerge which speak to desire, fantasy and the urge to see ourselves reflected in the natural world,’ say Long and Stent.
Often referencing historical representations of the female subject, Long and Stent distort and fragment their bodies, creating creaturely hybrids in a constant state of becoming and flux. Dreamlike, fluid, saccharine, gritty and fleshy, they challenge and captivate audiences with powerful imagery that is both subversive and surreal.
Specifications: Perimeter Editions / Photo Australia ・ 2023 ・ section-sewn hardcover ・ 21 x 28 cm. / 56 pages ・ English ・ 9781922545176
