Julia Randall - Blown (2011-12) - Color pencil on paper

Artist’s statement: 

“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.

Bubblegum 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.”