Open

This project is an interactive soft sculpture of a life-sized “cadaver,” physically autopsied by the viewer. It is made of cotton and faux leather, sewn and then oil painted, with openings made by zippers, operated with a faux scalpel. The interior of the cadaver is based on an anatomical model. Each organ is individually painted, sewn, and placed inside of the body with a prompt to be removed. The organs are stuffed to create different weights, creating a tactile path of discovery.

Open is an exploration of vulnerability and intimacy through the body “after death.” Isaac Hess created this project as a literary/visual study of how we “open up” as a person literally, as well as metaphorically, balancing the tender and the grotesque in each hand.

Prompting you to take the material in hand, pull it apart and return it begs the question “What happens when organs are removed, and no one knows how to put them back?” They are returned wrong and mangled. This is an embodiment of both living struggles to express and share with others, as well as expressing a fear of losing bodily autonomy and the ability to protect ourselves after death. Hess’ expression is an experiment– how will people treat the body? Respected as having with its own order, or as an abandoned object of study, subject to alienating exploration?

This project was made possible with support from the Frank-Ratchye Further Fund Microgrant #2025-015.