Daksha Patel - Body (Re)Touched

For her second solo show at PAPER, Manchester based artist, Daksha Patel presents a new series of laser prints that blur the boundaries between the scientific image and artistic imagination, between the measurable and the immeasurable, the known and unknown. They were produced by intervening into biomedical imagery using speculative drawings to re-order the technological image. 

Body (Re)Touched presents series of prints produced by using processes of digital drawing, laser etching, and hand printing. The starting point for each print is a biomedical image such as a neuron, human stem cell, bone tissue, or intestinal nerve cells sourced from the internet. The drawings intentionally blur the boundaries between the scientific image and artistic imagination. The artist’s intervention is an exploration into what is revealed about the body and what remains unseen through the eyes of technology. 
The use of the term ‘retouch’ in the title of the work refers to the tension between sight and touch, the felt and the seen, in relation to the body. Retouching can be understood as a process of reaching into the biomedical image through drawing and printmaking. However, it also suggests photographic retouching with its associated meanings of rendering bodies as flawless, impossibly perfect, and ultimately modifiable and controllable.
The representation of internal bodies through technology, and how biomedical images can change perceptions about the body is connected to the Patel’s PhD research and practice.

Body (Re)Touched #4
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,
14 x 20cm
Edition of 3  
2018
£250 (unframed)
£375 (framed)
Pay with Paypal

Body (Re)Touched #3
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,
14 x 20cm
Edition of 3  
2018
£250 (unframed)
£375 (framed)
Pay with Paypal

Body (Re)Touched #2
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,
14 x 20cm
Edition of 3  
2018
£250 (unframed)
£375 (framed)
Pay with Paypal

Body (Re)Touched #1
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,
14 x 20cm
Edition of 3  
2018
£250 (unframed)
£375 (framed)
Pay with Paypal

Body (Re)Touched #11
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,
14 x 20cm
Edition of 3  
2018
£250 (unframed)
£375 (framed)
Pay with Paypal

Body (Re)Touched #10
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,
14 x 20cm
Edition of 3  
2018
£250 (unframed)
£375 (framed)
Pay with Paypal

Body (Re)Touched #9
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,
14 x 20cm
Edition of 3  
2018
£250 (unframed)
£375 (framed)
Pay with Paypal

Body (Re)Touched #7
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,
14 x 20cm
Edition of 3  
2018
£250 (unframed)
£375 (framed)
Pay with Paypal

Body (Re)Touched #6
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,
14 x 20cm
Edition of 3  
2018
£250 (unframed)
£375 (framed)
Pay with Paypal

Body (Re)Touched #5
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,
14 x 20cm
Edition of 3  
2018
£250 (unframed)
£375 (framed)
Pay with Paypal

Body (Re)Touched series
Laser etchings, ink on Hahnemhle paper,

About Daksha Patel
Daksha Patel is a Manchester based artist and researcher whose practice engages with technologies that measure, map and scan the human body. Her work encompasses interactive installations, public art and commissions for museums and galleries. The process of drawing is at the heart of her practice. She regularly undertakes residencies and collaborations with scientific institutions and has worked with neuroscientists (The University of Manchester and Kings College), radiologists (The Christie hospital) geographical information systems and analytical chemistry (Manchester Metropolitan University). She is currently undertaking residencies at Dundee Life Science and with Artcore in Baroda, India.