I AM NOT THIS BODY. But I am. Aching and full of longing. Take a picture of this meat, this husk. You don't have me. I am something that cannot be photographed, cannot be named, defined, translated. There's experience and that's all there is .... But there's also all this stuff. It gets in the way. I've always had trouble with stuff. I've fought my whole life to have control over stuff, over the appearance of stuff: my chaotic hair, learning to play the accordion, getting dressed, being on time, electric bills, the five ballet positions, getting money, spending money, even just putting one foot in front of the other. Clear the table. A place for everything and everything in its place. A battle for order, a battle for space.
— Barbara Ess, excerpt from I Am Not This Body, Aperture, 2005
Co-curated by artists Juliana Paciulli and Evan Whale, I Am Not This Body reflects on the battle between the physical and indefinable; things that are at once us but aren’t. The bodies in the show have been collaged, painted, cast, printed, chemically altered, cut out, and dyed. Some cast shadows and some ripple in the wind. The works are rooted in reality, but they meander through beautiful, undulating reckonings with these realities. These figures emerge from their surroundings and reach into histories, presents, and futures revealing experiences that are exquisitely human.
![BARBARA ESS Electrocute [Border Series] , 2010 Framed: 12 x 15.31 in (30.48 x 38.89 cm Archival pigment print Edition 1 of 4](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/544cb720e4b0f3ba72ee8a78/1625791593642-WYN8TZWM85DHSP3IWQ5R/Barbara+Ess_Electrocute_2010_TPP.jpg)
Exhibiting artists include: Andrea Chung, Vanessa Conte, Barbara Ess, Daniel Gordon, Tommy Kha, Young Joon Kwak, Juliana Paciulli, Kim Schoen, Evan Whale, and Jessica Wimbley. I Am Not This Body is on view through July 31 @ Tyler Park Presents 4043 West Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles