Overview:
Emotional Detox is a series of seven sculptures made of lead and cast from parts of the artist's own body. In these works the body has been devastated, suggestive of some kind of harrowing yet possibly cathartic experience. Like the Planck Density works, they point to the fragility of life and a moment of catharsis: to the shedding of a toxic material – lead – and a release from the body's epidermal perimeter. Small, square apertures in the sculptures are filled with candle wax, making the forms seem sacred, like some kind of relic or devotional object. Quinn used photographs and collaged drawings to decide on the poses for each sculpture, which incorporate an element of chance since flaws and unpredictable textures from changing temperatures in the casting process are left as visible blemishes on their surface. The works were the first Quinn made following a hiatus when he overcame his addiction to alcohol. They deal with the idea of detoxification as both a physical and psychological battle.
