What lies beneath the surface: Lockwood’s creations take on abandoned forms.

There are few things that make the average person more squeamish than contemplation of our bodies as physical vessels. What goes on inside us is a mystery that most prefer to keep out of mind and under the skin. Perhaps that is why “Thinking Colon”—new work by Kylie Lockwood, which opened at Popps Packing in Hamtramck on February 7th—is such an affecting and disturbing assembly of mixed media pieces.

The opening night crowd at Popps.

Even the discernible body parts are disturbingly fractured.

These works nod directly and indirectly to the human body, and the mere segmentation of this form, so easily relatable as a whole, becomes alienating when taken into pieces. Layered on top of this basic uneasiness with disembodied feet and fingers are more figurative pieces—concrete-filled fabric, set in vessels that have been smashed away to reveal thick, twisted inner workings, vague brains, heavy guts. Additionally, a disorienting range of textures creates a kind of synesthesia, where viewing these objects becomes tantamount to touching them.

Taking things one piece at a time.

When was the last time you thought about your colon?

These sub-humanoid forms are interspersed with more literal vessels, such as ceramic pots, but even these are mysteriously riddled with scattershot that seems to break from the inside outward. Overall, a deep and strange assortment; in mirroring our own vulnerability humans, Lockwood has succeeded in creating a body of work that is as challenging as the reality of our own fallibility, and so somehow, just as inevitable.

A human scene, on many levels.

Don’t forget, Popps is expanding into their new Emporium space across the street, and they need your help to make it happen. The first Saturday of every month is a community workday, open to all and fueled by gratitude, with additional compensation in the form of food and saunas! Contact them to volunteer for the next one!

Popps Packing: 12138 Saint Aubin, Hamtramck; www.poppspacking.org