Artist Uses Blood to Bring Life to His Works Read more: http://healthmad.com/medicine/artist-uses-blood-to-bring-life-to-his-works

Jordan Eagles creates images using copper, resin — and animal blood.

His exhibition “Hemofields: A New Series of Multidimensional Works in Blood & Resin” will open on Wednesday at the gallery and run through Oct. 16.

Mr. Eagles, who gets his preserved animal blood from a New Jersey slaughterhouse, began tinkering with it as a medium while studying art at New York University in 1998. As he worked on a series of paintings depicting childbirth, he tried to use red paint to symbolize blood.
But over the course of a year, his childbirth pieces began to change color from red to brown, prompting him to experiment with ways to preserve the blood’s vibrant color. Through “years of trial and error,” he began applying blood to layers of clear plexiglass and then preserving it with layers of resin, allowing the high-gloss surface to suspend the fluid.
 In “Hemofields,” which Mr. Eagles says is a combination of hemoglobin and color fields, he explores various colors and textures of blood, from cattle and oxen, as it reacts during the resin’s cure time.
What’s happening here is that light is going through the colors and textures of the blood and vibrating off a copper backing,” he said of an image called “HF4.” “Copper is a conductor of electricity so it infuses more energy into the work.” Mr. Eagles then walked in front of “Roze 12” and began running an imaginary paint brush up and down the piece.
 “The ‘Roze’ idea here has several meanings. There are all these rows happening on a grid, but at the same time, the blood creates an image of a rebirth, a sort of rising from the dead. Rose is also a person’s name as well as a tribute flower, so the work personifies something that was once living.”
As Mr. Eagles spoke, the front door to the gallery opened. A man named Brandon Park walked in and asked if he could sneak a peek at some of the framed images.
Though Mr. Eagles insists that he has never worked with blood “just for shock value or for the sake of attention,” his unusual creations have brought him controversy.
Two years ago, animal rights activists gathered outside a Hartford gallery where some of his works were on display.
“I did not expect them to show up, but they came to my event, passing out fliers and making a big scene out front,” he said. “I invited them in to see the works before making a judgment, but they declined.
“My view on this is that blood is obviously a sacred material; it’s a life force that has energy but is no longer living,” he said. “You say the word ‘blood’ and people have so many preconceived notions and imagery that comes to mind, like the time you scraped your knee as a kid, or when you gave birth or some other image, and you are potentially going to come and view my work through the lens of those preconceived notions.”
Benjamin Krause, who owns the gallery where Mr. Eagles’s works are now being shown, said that based on Mr. Eagles’s past sales, some of the pieces would most likely sell for $12,000 to $13,000.