3/06/10 8:30 PM

Our bodies are contradictory things, at once extremely fragile and surprisingly durable. Their strength depends in great part on that massive organ which covers our beings — namely, our skin. Their weakness is located in those places where the skin is broken, whether accidentally —cuts, punctures and other wounds — or by design — orifices. Molly Burke has made a study of this paradox through the most apropos of media, one which is known both for its solidity and its tendency to shatter: glass. Though Burke’s glass sculptures resemble bodies in no obvious way, they nevertheless constitute astute and visceral investigations of them. Round and blobby, firm yet supple, their alternately pink, red, and black forms sprout fragile appendages. These small glass disks and rings make of the sculptures bodies with their hearts worn literally on their sleeves, their organs exposed to the elements, demanding to be cared for carefully, lest they be broken. Sometimes we need reminding that our own bodies, which house their organs so carefully inside, need an equal amount of care.

—Lori Waxman