A solo exhibition by BOLT Resident
Amber Hawk Swanson
Opening Reception: August 17, 6-9pm
Exhibition Dates: August 17  – September 6

Amber Hawk Swanson commissioned the production of a life-like sex doll, a RealDoll, made of a posable PVC skeleton and silicone flesh, in her likeness—as a prop for her work and academic interests and also as the companion she desired in her personal life. True to Doll Culture, Hawk Swanson’s RealDoll needed a name—Amber Doll. True to a culture of violence, when left alone in a variety of venues, Amber Doll was explored—often violently—without interference from artist or bystanders. In the resulting project, ideas surrounding agency and objectification are questioned, as are ideas about the success or failure of negotiating power through one’s own participation in a cultural narrative that declares women as objects.

Hawk Swanson’s subsequent performance, video, and sculpture, Amber Doll > Tilikum, involves the artist transforming Amber Doll into a replica of the bull orca, Tilikum, who lives in captivity at SeaWorld Orlando and has been involved in the deaths of three people. The story of Tilikum and his body as a spectacle shared remarkable similarities to Hawk Swanson’s relationship with Amber Doll. Assembling his anatomy from similar, either in look or function, parts from Amber Doll, the artist conducted the ten-day, Amber Doll > Tilikum transformation alone in her studio, but broadcast every moment of it on her Livestream Channel to an audience of thousands worldwide.

Amber transformed Amber Doll from a physical object into an active presence by reclaiming a mangled body, giving voice to the violence enacted on female and whale. Tilikum has suffered many years for the pleasure of others. Breasts and hands became a tail, a belly button begat a blow hole, and fragments of skull became broken teeth, each physical part was assigned a new role—and through this metamorphosis pieces of Amber Doll are used to reissue agency over objectification.

Twelve pounds of silicone flesh were all that was left of Amber Doll’s original form after Tilikum was sculpted. Hawk Swanson’s solo exhibition at BOLT Gallery, All That is Left of You / Everything You Are Now, displays the non-orca parts of Amber Doll—there are no “scraps,” no “leftovers,” and no “extras”—each piece matters in the struggle to [re]gain agency from objectification.  All That is Left of You / Everything You Are Now invites viewers to observe the transformation process in a 36-hour Amber Doll > Tilikum video and to view protected pieces of silicone flesh before Amber Doll’s remains are editioned and sold at auction. During a closing performance event on September 6 Hawk Swanson will prepare each piece of Amber Doll for auction for a live and Livestreamed audience.

Amber Hawk Swanson (b. 1980, Davenport, Iowa) is a video and performance artist living and working in Brooklyn. Recent exhibitions and screenings include Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Momenta Art (Brooklyn), Arlington Art Center (Virginia), Camel Art Space (Brooklyn), Locust Projects (solo, Miami), Non Grata Art Container (Estonia), and Georgia State University (Atlanta). Recent residencies include Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture (Maine), Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (NYC), Woodstock Byrdcliffe (NY), Fountainhead (Miami), and BOLT (Chicago). Recent visiting artist appointments include McGill University (Montreal), East Carolina University (Graduate Program, Greenville, NC), Hunter College (Studio Arts and Film, NYC), and Fashion Institute of Technology, FIT (Photography, NYC). Her work is included in the permanent and MPP collections of the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago) and has been profiled and reviewed in The Associated Press, The Huffington Post, Hyperallergic, Map Magazine, SexTV, Time Out Chicago, and Flavorpill. Hawk Swanson holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Studio Arts, 2006).

Chicago Artists’ Coalition, 217 N. Carpenter Street, Chicago, IL 60607. 312-491-8888
Gallery Hours are Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm, and Saturday by appointment
[312.491.8888/cortney@chicagoartistscoalition.org]