This chapter describes Ex Voto / Lung by Shelagh Keeley, created in 1990, and measuring 145 by 95 cm. It is one and a half minutes long. 
You can reach out to feel the edges of this frame. This drawing is much larger than the majority of those in the exhibition! And there is one word to describe this set of lungs: messiness. Though the outline is drawn in graphite, or pencil, the edges of the oblong biological vessel are smudged, and there are dense layers of thick black charcoal that create the shadows or roundness of the lungs. A section of orange and pink pigment mixed together in the centre of the left lung creates the impression of a glowing, pulsating shape underneath, a sense heightened by the cloudy and translucent quality of the paper. The artist has also smeared a transparent wax over the drawing, and it creates a tactility to it, as we imagine the artist using her hands to pull the wax down and across the surface. The lungs almost reach all four sides of the paper, but in the empty space behind it, Keeley has smeared pinkish pigments, reminiscent of skin or flesh. In its size and textures, her representation of one of life’s primal forces is glowing, soft and visceral.
To hear more about this work, play the next track. Or move to the next stop, on the other side of this floating wall.