Eighteen colorful pairs of hands reach out from the walls of Illinois State University's Milner Library in a new exhibition that draws visitors in for a closer look.
- Graduate students and good friends Josh Roach and Michael Blake have teamed up to co-create an exhibition of sculpted hands on the sixth floor of Milner Library on the ISU campus.
- Blake says hands are integral in life and so inspired their works. The original idea was to have the hands of models cupping one specific part of the body, but as the project progressed, the artists branched out and allowed their models to touch whatever part of the body they wished. Their hands were then molded, cast and mounted.
- Roach and Blake were intrigued by personal boundaries and the interesting intimacy that comes from a variety of models holding parts of one another's bodies.
- The artists feel each set of hands has its own personality.
- Having the exhibition in a well-traveled hallway in the library means many people pass by the sculptures each day. Roach and Blake are excited to have them react and even interact with the installation. The artists encourage touching the hands.
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