Donald Patten
TO HEAR
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Oil on canvas. 16 x 20. 2023. A pyramid of pinkish-beige flesh stands on a mottled brown surface like a table, stage, or floor., A spotlight shines from the top right. This pyramid is topped with a single human ear. Two eyes with large black pupils, so that they look like buttons or knobs, sit below the ear and face into the spotlight.
TO SEE
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Oil on canvas. 16 x 20. 2023. A chunk of bright red meat, like part of a tentacle, stands in the same right-hand spotlight. The tentacle is covered in black spots with white centers like suckers, tiny black holes, or eyes.
TO SMELL
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Oil on canvas. 16 x 20. 2023. A human nose and the surrounding tissue stand on the stage, A spotlight shines down from the top left. The nose and surrounding tissue form a pyramid. The nose is outlined in red and appears to be dripping blood from one nostril.
TO TASTE
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Oil on canvas. 16 x 20. 2023. A toothless and lipless mouth sits in the same spotlight and sticks out its tongue. The tongue is covered in black spots like eyes or black holes.
TO FEEL
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Oil on canvas. 16 x 20. 2023. A hand, red as meat and white as bone, may be made from nerve or muscle fibers. Bone white is used to outline the five fingers. The fingers taper to points. A spotlight shines from the upper right. The middle finger drags along the stage floor, casting a black triangle of shadow.
Artist statement: The Five Senses is a series of illustrative oil paintings that represent the traditionally known five senses of human perception. Each is depicted bizarrely as a way to show how we are reliant on our physical bodies to perceive the world and to maintain bodily functions, yet they are imperfect and will eventually fail.