The Organic Grotesque in the Visual arts : The visual representation of abnormal organic growth found in nature, the graphic arts, painting, assemblage and the human body

Abstract

The dissertation takes the porosity of human skin as a starting point for a series of investigations into an aesthetic category that I have termed, the ‘organic grotesque’. The neologism was devised as an orienting device to describe pictorial attributes of surface, in particular, abnormal, biological growth. The research divides the subject into the following areas: the grotesque surface, the topography of the skin, the macro/microscopic grotesque and uses these as armatures to discuss aspects of biology, art, ornamental grotesque, topography of the human body, scale, evolution and disease. Each chapter also attempts to make clear the relationships that exist between the scholarly and historical research and the operation of the ‘grotesque’ in my own artwork. The research has been undertaken as an inquiry into the relationship between the aesthetic and psychological responses of disgust that inform my own compulsion to create work.