This sculptural work plays with the complex, geometrical form of a honeycomb, comprised of copper cells. It also plays with the metaphorical associations of a ‘Honey Trap’: referencing the attraction of bees to honey; but also ‘sexual seduction’ and ‘entrapment’ by women, with the obvious connotations of danger and deception.
The exterior aesthetic of this work exploits the cool, rational restraint of minimalism, paying homage to Donald Judd’s sensuous use of materials and simplicity of form, but then subverts the ‘male austerity’ of Modern Art by imbuing the interior with a contemporary, feminist meaning and a psychological charge. Hence, the interior ‘seductive glow’ of the reflective copper lures the viewer to ‘peep’ inside the cells which contain endlessly reflected, kaleidoscopic images of women from magazines, fragmented and distorted, destabilizing the viewer’s expectations.
The viewer’s ‘gaze’ is also obstructed by sharp, sinister looking scribes, randomly scattered, in the area surrounding the cells. The scribes reference the process of making, copper-etching, as well as the ‘inscription of meaning’. The long black spikes may also suggest ‘a sting in the tail’.
The cells themselves may be seen as hollow vessels associated with fecundity, femininity and womb-like spaces. They may also be seen to mirror the vacuity of the fashion images they contain which offer up empty, false promises.
