Claye Bowler is wearing a version of what he wanted his body to look like. The latex cast is called Fine I’ll do it myself ii and has undergone something akin to top surgery – a procedure for transgender men and non-binary people in which breast tissue is removed. It is one of the most startling works to feature in Top, Bowler’s solo exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds.
The cast, Bowler says, has been therapeutic for him, “in trying to understand transition and how I wanted to look”. As with much of Bowler’s work, the choice of material was crucial. It was made using cotton thread and braided suture thread; the reality of surgery woven into the work itself. Here, the cast has the potential to turn into a mirror, art imitating life.
