In the Flesh | Sam Jinks

The exhibition, which includes new and existing work, explores the themes of intimacy, empathy, alienation, mortality and acceptance. The work of Sam Jinks draws on our shared fascination with the human figure, a fascination that has persisted through the history of Western sculpture. His hyper–realistic representations of the body, constructed from clay casts, poured silicone, fibreglass, resin and human hair, reflect the impermanence of life and the body’s fragility, while simultaneously capturing the intimacy, strength, empathy and vulnerability which defines us.

The viewer becomes suspended in an intense moment of intimacy with the work, a moment that cannot ordinarily be achieved amongst strangers. As we stare at the figures frozen in states of vulnerability, be it babyhood, old age or quiet contemplation, we glimpse our own vulnerabilities reflected back.