Biological - Specimen 3

Media: Conte Crayon and Ink on Craft Paper

My artist's statement for this project:

Biological
Works by Jordan M Dalton

The idea behind this body of work is that each drawing is what appears to be an organ of some terrestrial life form or perhaps a whole organism on it’s own. I wanted to stretch my imagination to create these fantastic organic forms which appear to have purpose, but are still ambiguous as to the exact function of each part. I purposely did not decide what these ambiguous functions might be as it would inevitably influence the look of the piece. I want it to be as much a mystery to me as it is to the audience. What could be the use of such organs and what kind of creature would be host to them?

Several things have come to influence these works. First of all is the supposed footage of an alien autopsy from the Roswell, NM UFO crash. More specifically, though, I was influenced by an episode of the Sci-Fi Television show, the X-files, in which they recreate the autopsy from the classic Roswell footage. I remember seeing the organs that Maulder pulled from the alien’s body and wondering what each one was for.

Another influence was a benign tumor that once rested above my right eye. It was a tumor that I came to know as a dermoid. Dermoids can contain any type of human tissue. Anything from teeth to hair and skin to blood vessels can be present in such a tumor. When I had mine removed, I was given the chance to see it. It looked like a small red grape and the doctor explained to me that it was essentially a third tear duct that was closed off from any of the other surrounding tissue. It was filled with saline fluid from when I was born. The idea of having this small gland above my eye, which had, because of my biology, essentially no purpose intrigued me.

On a similar note, an appendectomy I had not too long ago reinforced the idea of unused biology. The same idea came into play since my appendix was a part of my body that had no real function. A remnant from a prehistoric digestive system, passed down from my ancestors, something that could easily be removed without permanent consequence to the overall function of my body.

Other influences are biology classes, the Discovery Channel, and medical diagrams that show illustrated images of the inner body how certain parts function. The list could honestly go on for a long time, but I feel I have covered the most important inspirations.

Hopefully you are intrigued by these drawings and perhaps enjoy them. Maybe you are feeling disturbed by them, but hopefully you're still curious about them. Maybe this has inspired you to imagine other terrestrial biology. Whatever effect it has on you, I'm glad it has had one.