Lisa Wood ~ Assemblage Artist

{all images from here}

Isn't it weird how sometimes when you discover something new to you, in the time following you begin to see more of something you had never noticed or been aware of before? This is the case with this assemblage art by Lisa Wood.  After posting a few days ago about the swallowed objects displays I had seen several years ago, I was once again trolling Pinterest and came upon a pin of this book cover.  Intrigued, I visited the source, where one can view many plates (no pun intended!) from the book in addition to the stories that accompany each work.

{JBD with knife}

Lisa Wood's series of Swallowing Plates was inspired by the work of Chevalier Jackson ~ the laryngologist whose collection is displayed at the Mutter Museum. Each of the 33 assemblages in the series contains an array of found objects arranged in a quite beautiful way on a variety of old dinner plates.  Each illustrates a fictionalized case study and is paired with a 'history' of the person and his or her connection to the item ingested. See below for one example; go here to read the remaining case studies. The Swallowing Plates: Objects Swallowed and Recovered from the Human Body is available here ~ this is now on my wish list!

 {PLC with tooth}

  {Sarah with hairpin}

Oddly enough, this series reminds me a bit of Edward Gorey's Gashlycrumb Tinies, another of my favorite, but dark books. Take a look if you are unfamiliar ~ it is a pen & ink illustrated alphabet book with a sinister, but entertaining theme. 

 {Will and Ivy and glass}

 {J. Franklin with nails, wire and a tack}

  {Exhibit of The Swallowing Plates}