Julia Randall : Tongue & Mouth

from Lick Line

Lick Line #1

2002, colored pencil on paper, 16"x12"

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Lick Line is a series of disembodied mouths floating in space. Rendered in exacting detail, the tongues protrude and beckon the viewer to come close. The mouth is the body's critical site, where we eat, speak, kiss and bite; it is both ferocious and tender. We see the mouth and tongue all the time, yet they are highly intimate. Seen as a group the mouths undulate and bounce. Like many voices talking at once, they strangely invade our space with humor and perversity.

from Lovebirds

Lovebird # 5

2005, colored pencil on paper, 30” x 22”

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The Lovebirds take the fetishization of animals to the extreme. Various exotic birds are depicted with heads and beaks that have morphed into mouths and tongues. Reminiscent of wind-up toys redesigned for human pleasure, these wacky and disturbing hybrids leave the world of Audubon, and tweak our desire to capture and consume exoticism.

from Lures

Lure # 4 

2007, colored pencil on paper, 22” x 30”

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The Lures are drawings of mouths and tongues on the move; the rapid motion is suggestive of speech, biting, and sexual signaling. Glimpses of moist lips, tongues and teeth hint at the potential ferocity of sensual flesh. Isolated in space, the mouth in motion becomes a visceral spectacle.

from Decoys

Decoy #7

2007, colored pencil on paper, 29"x 41"

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The "Decoys" are surreal riffs on genetically modified plants, and hint at the perils of human intervention and biotechnical "advances" in the natural world. Nature has signed up in the service of seduction, for the purpose of entrapment. Sex play, violence and scientific exploration all merge in hybrid botanical drawings, that are at once beautiful and disturbing, erotic and fanciful.

from Lick Line

Lick Line #26

2004, colored pencil on paper, 16” x 12”

from Lovebirds

Lovebird #1

2003, colored pencil on paper, 22"x 30"

from Decoys

Decoy #6

2006, colored pencil on paper, 46"x34"

from Blown

Plumgum

2011, colored pencil on paper, 24"x 18"

from Blown

Bubblemouth #2

2012, colored pencil on paper, 62"x 45"

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Bubblegum initially connotes innocent, cheeky pleasure, yet the fragile skin of gum also points to the susceptibility of the body, and the dreaded passage of time. Bubble gum is an insignificant, disposable material, and the pleasure taken from its flavor is fleeting. The bubble is a vessel that holds our breath, for a brief moment, in a physical form. Seen as a group, the inflating/ deflating bubble imagery is a visual manifestation of breathing. They are decidedly anthropomorphic, and can appear abject, fragile, and as vulnerable as the human body.






Articles and Reviews on Julia Randall's Artwork
All text from: JuliaRandall.com
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