First Touch

Vajiko Chachkhiani
2022

  • Medium:Stainless steel;springs;cement
  • Year:2022
  • Size:59x41x73cm

Description

The sculptures of Do Not, Do Not and First Touch originate from the beloved toys from the artist’s children, and these cute toys in animal shapes became one of the simplest props to prompt children to learn about the natural world. Based on their form, Chachkhiani explores how “toys” as objects and the mechanisms behind the acts of playing shape the relationship between the self and the world during the early years of an individual’s life.

First Possessions (XS) is a bird-like sculpture with playful shapes and expressions. The series invokes the concepts of “transitional objects” and “transitional stages” from psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott’s book Playing and Reality. The concepts refer to the intermediate stages and intermediate objects between the internal world of the self and the wider external world—such as toys and other small objects to which the child is attached—that provide comfort and companionship as the infant individual moves away from the care of the mother to establish the self. The “first possessions” come from the child’s playful discovery, not given or imposed, but from the child’s individual exploration and choice, and from their first creative and artistic experiences.

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