"I ran remember playing in the woods and ending up with a thorn in my sock right below my ankle where it meets the top of my shoe. It was pleasantly annoying. I would walk around with it in there for a while to see how long I could stand heing uncomfortable.
Linda Jean Fisher, January 2002
MY STUDIO IS A LABORATORY: A PLACE DEVOTED TO EXPERIMENTAL STUDY WHERE
SOMETHING IS PREPARED OR SOME OPERATION IS PERFORMED. MY APPROACH TO ART-MAKING IS RITUALISTIC AND METHODICAL. PROCESSES ARE LABOR INTENSIVE AND DETAIL ORIENTED, BUT UNSUCCESSFUL DESIGNS, PRODUCTION DISCARDS, ACCIDENTS, ILLUSTRATIONS AND NOTES ARE NOT MERELY MISTAKES AND
OBSERVATIONS; THEY ARE TRIBUTARIES FEEDING A BODY OF WORK.
IN 1997 1 BEGAN A PROJECT CALLED "LEONARDO'S UTERUS: ANATOMICAL ARCHITECTURE." I ORIGINALLY SET OUT TO MAKE A SCULPTURE OF A LIFESIZE MALE SET IN A SLICED OPEN UTERUS AND POSED IN THE BREECH POSITION. I WANTED TO REMEDY THE COMFORT OF ROUTINE WITH THE AWKWARDNESS OF UNFAMILIARITY BECAUSE I FELT I WAS GETTING FAR TOO NIMBLE WITH THE MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES I WAS USING AT THE TIME. THE THOUGHT OF BEGINNING THIS PROJECT INITIALLY SCARED ME, BECAUSE I KNEW I WAS GOING TO BE SPENDING SCORES OF HOURS TRYING AND FAILING. I AM A WORKAHOLIC AND FALL PREY TO A BEAST INSIDE WHO ENJOYS CHIDING ME WITH RIDICULE REGARDING MY ABILITY TO EXPEDITE PROJECTS. SOMETIMES I WEAKEN AND BELIEVE ITS SARDONIC LASHES. THERE WERE TIMES WHEN I STOOD COMPLETELY PERPLEXED IN A CYCLONE OF DRAWINGS, NOTES, MODEL FRAGMENTS, AND COSTLY BLUNDERS. BUT I CARRIED ON- RESPECTING THE PROCESS AND TRUSTING THE CHOICES MY WORK MADE. "LEONARDO'S UTERUS" EMANCIPATED MY WORK FROM ITS GREATEST OPPRESSOR- MY WILL.
ON SUNDAY 9 MARCH 25 2001 1 PUT THE PROJECT ASIDE INDEFINITELY AFTER
WORKING AND REWORKING THE FIGURE AND THE SPHERE FOR OVER TWO YEARS.
"LEONARDO'S UTERUS" HAD SPAWNED SEVERAL PAINTINGS. THIS REDIRECTED THE
PATH OF MY WORK AND I BEGAN TO STUDY THE HARMONY OF COLORS AND THE
HUMAN PERCEPTION OF COLOR EFFECTS INCLUDING LUSTER, IRIDESCENCE,)
LUMINOSITY, AND CHROMATIC LIGHT.