The maternal abject and the works of Gregory Crewdson
Gregory Crewdson uses the abject object in such a way as to merge it literally
with the erotic/sexual Oedipal complex. In the 1995 work Untitled Crewdson juxtaposes
in the photographic image, the cadaverous human body with the erotic. Here the
sexual merges with the abject in a stupefying array of images, which are simultaneously
seductive, viscous and repulsive.
The abject manifestation is evident with his reference to the life cycle of
the butterflies, which begins from within the depth of the vaginal and decaying
wound. In this work, Crewdson is attempting to harmonise the physical presence
of the abject in association with the birthing process; this could be read as
his maternal abject. Crewdson himself refers to the images he produces as "forensic
photographs of his own psyche"1 . Another aspect
of the abject is the invocation of the voyeuristic gaze in the viewer and the
subsequent readily recognisable social taboo of voyeurism it constructs at the
time.
Like Crewdson, I aim in my work to merge the seductive with the abhorrent. This
is done in order to create a seamlessness between the horrific and the beautiful
and to merge the abject with its object, much like Bataille’s description
of ancient temples with their all encompassing functionality as places of worship
and sacrifice.
The construction of Crewdson’s image “Untitled 1995” is another
point of convergence with my own work. It is dark on the periphery with the
brightest and most colour intensive area at the centre of the image. Like Crewdson,
I construct my images in such a way as to create a more focused view of the
main elements of the images. By doing so, I try to create the illusion of a
tunnel with no way out except through the body of the woman and the various
elements acting on it.
©2001 Mireille Astore
1. Arning, Bill. Still Lives. in World Art. Vol.14, p. 68