Chantal Gervais’ photo installation uses the human body to explore the transient nature of existence. In the installation a darkened room is punctuated by detailed and graphic images of the body that seem to be suspended in space. The artist uses the camera as a surgeon would a scalpel, to cleave and separate and hold up for investigation various segments of the body. Glistening flesh, sagging or stretched taunt over protruding veins, an oily sheened hand reaching out, other ambiguously familiar yet unidentifiable parts speak paradoxically of repulsion and seduction, of the sacred and profane, of science and ritual. Ultimately, they speak not of the individuals from whom they were taken but our common condition and fragile nature of this carapace we call home.