ARTIST STATEMENT
The paper dolls of Madam Curie and a eulogy book of the Radium Girls, inspired by Hannah Batsel and Kara Walker, made to resemble scientific illustrations from the early 1900s – the period these women lived. The paper dolls show the subtle and unknown effects of radium poisoning over time on the face of Madam Curie. A photograph from the 1900s of one of the radium girls has been attached to a book cover, that resembles a eulogy book, with a periodic radium element above it to represent the cause of death.
ARTWORK PROCESS
Radium’s Curiosity is a collection of three articulated paper dolls and a eulogy book. The paper dolls are made from ink pen on brown paper which was then cut and collaged as body parts pinned onto foam to maintain articulation, shown in black frames. Intended to be displayed encased in drawers like in a museum: where specimens are pinned and kept, like how Madam Curie was pinned to her work upon the discovery of radium. The book cover was made using bold green blurry watery ink technique to blur the background which symbolises the radium paint used by the
