Faculty of Art

Cross-Disciplinary Art: Life Studies

Diana Silla

ACT ACCORDINGLY

65" x 24" x 48", Polymer Clay, Acrylic Paint, WoodTo exist in a body is to be seen, measured, analyzed, and to negotiate with the people and systems that assign social value. I experienced this through my own weight loss. Comments on bodily change, whether well-intended or not, position the body as something that can and should change. Once you step outside expectations, it can feel as though you are being closely analyzed, heightening anxieties about perception. I investigate this by reflecting it back onto the viewer, creating a feedback loop of looking in which they become aware of the redundancy of their gaze and commentary. The goal of this work is to highlight the scrutiny bodies exist within contemporary surveillance culture and to explore how gym spaces can intensify these concerns.I draw on my personal experience of losing weight during the pandemic. It began for health reasons, but comments such as “you look so good now” and “keep going” turned praise into motivation. Once those comments stopped, they shaped how I understood my body and its value. What began as a health journey had the opposite effect: I became obsessed with food, exercise, and the number on the scale. Yet no one seemed to notice because, as I became thinner, I fit accepted standards more closely. This made me aware of how intensely the body becomes a point of focus. Why was my body considered better than before? What would it mean if it changed again? Why was my body more interesting than how I was coping during a pandemic? I created this work to explore how statements about the body intensify self-awareness and redirect attention toward superficial values rather than health.The final installation is a 64-inch-high plinth supporting a replica of the Caledon Centre gym, hand-sculpted in polymer clay. Surrounding it is an acrylic enclosure tinted like a one-way mirror: reflective on the inside, transparent on the outside, with a narrow slit through which viewers must peek. A ceiling with lights illuminates the miniature interior. The work is intentionally intimidating to approach. On one side of the plinth are satirical administrative Rules and Regulations, with a mirror mounted behind them.Inside the gym, people exercise using various equipment. Their bodies reveal cellulite, stretch marks, sweat, and other vulnerabilities. Their eyes dart between one another and beyond the space toward the viewer. Polymer clay allowed me to sculpt imperfect bodies and emphasize individuality. Its visible imperfections foreground the handmade quality of the work and parallel the imperfect bodies we are taught to alter.The initial focal point is the rules and regulations, which the viewer may unconsciously apply when evaluating the gym occupants above, who remain unaware of outside judgments through the one-way mirrored acrylic. The patrons glance at one another and scrutinize themselves, amplified by the miniature scale that demands close analysis. The slit forces the viewer’s body to conform in order to look inside. This physical posture mirrors the social act of adjusting oneself to fit expectations. Through prolonged observation, viewers become aware of their voyeuristic gaze and the perverse nature of scrutiny. The mirror behind the work reflects them back to themselves, revealing that they too are watching and being watched.Within the gym, separate narratives unfold. A man poses in the mirror while taking a photo. Across from him, a woman stares critically at her reflection. Their contrast draws attention to differing pressures placed on men and women. Elsewhere, a man who is not thin exercises alone while multiple onlookers glare at him. These scenes are lit by spotlights to emphasize their significance, mimicking how certain bodies are made hypervisible in public spaces. Other figures avert their eyes, compare themselves, or monitor others, creating an atmosphere of tension where everyone is both observer and observed.Scale is central to the work’s meaning. The miniature gym invites viewers to lean in, hover, and inspect details they might otherwise overlook. What appears playful or humorous from a distance becomes unsettling at close range. Smallness becomes a metaphor for the cultural demand to take up less space, while the elevated plinth transforms that pressure into something monumental and authoritative.Ultimately, this work confronts viewers with how bodies are judged and how deeply rooted systems of judgment are reproduced and internalized.

“Your body exists for us to scrutinize. There is no such thing as enough. Too fat, too squishy, lacks discipline. Too thin, too bony, too obsessive. I experienced this scrutiny after losing weight and hearing comments about myself and others like “You look good now,” “better,” and “Keep going,” acknowledging that previous bodies are not enough, and regardless of destructive patterns, I should only aim to be smaller. These comments revealed that the body is always analyzed, gauged, and stored for re-analysis. The space I experienced this most in was the panoptic structure of the Caledon Centre for Recreation and Wellness. A walking track encases the gym, where patrons act as drones circling the space. Tinted glass walls became mirrors at night, forcing me to meet the gaze of even those behind me. The knowledge that if I can see them, they can see me caused me to shift how I acted. I made this work to recreate this feedback loop of looking and redirect it onto viewers. Using polymer clay and paint, the work has imperfections and a humility about it that reflects the human-made qualities of our bodies we set to alter. Gym-goers have imperfections like sweat, cellulite, stretch marks, scars, and more that exist, yet through their miniature size, demand to be commented on. The height and demanding presence of the work evokes a voyersitic and perverse nature and the work asks viewers to consider how easily observation turns into judgment.”