The Torso Project Experience

Born into a specific time and place, we move through our lives bombarded by the cultural and social/political dynamics of that time and place. The stuff of life happens to us, within us and without us, affecting the ways we perceive the world—which in turn affects how the world perceives us. We suffer our pains and our angers, absurdities and tragedies, our moments of clarity and doubt—all the while striving to find meaning and answers to the age-old questions: "Who are we? Why are we here? And "What about that crazy thing called Love?"

That is the artist's statement that greets the visitor at the entrance of "The Torso Project," the provocative body of work by Arizona artist Lois Regn. The statement not only describes the diversity of her creative perceptions, but also foreshadows what awaits the visitor beyond the threshold of the thirty-five-piece exhibit: the artist's unique interpretation of a myriad of messages about life's myths and mysteries.

"The Torso Project" is not restricted to one person's journey through a cultural obstacle course. Ms. Regn has adapted standard commercial display forms of the female torso to capture the constant pressures on all men and women that are generated by expectations—many of which cause confusion and create conflict.

As the visitor enters the exhibit, it takes little time to recognize that there is much more to this project than the startling images that meet the eye. Looking beneath the surface, it is about mind, body, heart, and even the soul. Sometimes haunting, often humorous, and frequently edgy, each torso addresses an individual concept—but they all work together to take the viewer on a trip of twists and turns, like the chapters of life.

According to the fifty-one-year-old artist, "This project is not about a group of individual pieces, but rather the experience of the totality of the group itself." Because she considers the project to be a thirty-five-piece set (and growing), Regn rejects the notion of selling any of the pieces in the exhibit.

The exhibit is laid out to approximate the sequence in which each torso was created. Moving through it, visitors discover brief bursts of order representing familiar phases and passages of life. But the artist has also injected a spontaneity that provokes surprise, so the exhibit, like life itself, avoids any semblance of predictability. In fact, the collection of torso forms subtly reminds the visitor of one of life's most powerful realities: impermanence.

Beginning with the first rather simplistic torso Regn created in the year 2000, called "Cosmic Organism," and continuing through the final, sublime form made in 2004, titled "Elusive Butterfly," the pieces cover a range of concepts, including doubt, shame, aging, denial, patriotism, fear, loss, war, and peace, that lead the visitor through a metamorphic maze.

After viewing the entire exhibit, visitors have a deeper understanding that "The Torso Project" is truly the sum of its parts—an artistic labor of, and about, love.