In the Eyes of Others: Jodie Carey

In the Eyes of Others, Jodie Carey
(Credit: http://jodiecarey.co.uk)

Born in 1981, Jodie Carey is a London-based artist whose work is well-known for its focus on mortality and the way we perceive and experience life and death (specifically in contemporary Western society). One installation in particular – “In the Eyes of Others” – is often considered to be Carey’s most ambitious and stunning work.

In the Eyes of Others, Jodie Carey
(Credit: http://jodiecarey.co.uk)

“In the Eyes of Others” is composed of three massive chandeliers, each crafted from nearly 9,000 hand-cast plaster bones. Carey’s work often employs unique materials; she is renowned for using things like human hair, feathers, animal bones, sugar, blood, fat, dust, plaster and more. It is these materials that further lend her work a visceral, bodily quality. The artist’s installations harken to the human body and the ephemeral quality of us all. These three bone chandeliers challenge viewers to consider their mortality. Each chandelier weighs roughly one ton, and they hang heavily, nearly dripping to the floor. Unlike a traditional chandelier lifted high above the ground, these installations seem to sink toward the earth — a reminder that death is something we will all encounter.

In the Eyes of Others, Jodie Carey
(Credit: http://jodiecarey.co.uk)

Death and mortality are further addressed in the newspapers piled beneath the chandeliers. The copious amounts of newsprint emphasize the horror, grief and destruction that we are constantly bombarded with. Death is often something we watch happen to someone else — like stories on the front page of a newspaper. Carey’s work asks us to consider the ways in which we view death. We tend to look at it from afar (or from another’s perspective) like a chandelier dangling high above us, seemingly far away and belonging to someone else. So often we only see death ‘through the eyes of others.’ But Carey’s installation challenges this notion. The gigantic, low-hanging chandeliers, made from fragile and brittle bones, suggest a different way of looking at death. The sculptures, sagging to the ground, ask us to consider death up close and far more personally.

In the Eyes of Others, Jodie Carey
(Credit: http://jodiecarey.co.uk)

The installation is stunning; it is eerie and emotional, yes, but also quite personal and moving. “In the Eyes of Others” may remind us of our life’s transience, but it does so in a spectacular and intense way.