Born and raised in South Africa, Trish lives in the Comox Valley where her practice is often inspired and informed by the natural environment to be found on Vancouver Island. Her concern for the human condition is often reflected in her interdisciplinary work, blurring boundaries between sculpture, ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, and life. She is interested in people and finds inspiration in the resilience of human nature. As an Interdisciplinary artist and horticulturist she has been exhibiting her work in South Africa and Canada since 1977. She studied Fine Arts through East London School of Art, South Africa, North Island College Fine Arts and graduated with a BFA through Emily Carr University, Vancouver, Canada.
DARK SIDE OF LACE
What drives me as an artist is my concern for the human condition and find inspiration in the resilience of human nature. My research based interdisciplinary practice investigates complex sociological frameworks pertaining to global humanitarian issues. Mostly autobiographical in nature my work incorporates multiple elements evoking diverse subjective responses. Employing fabric as a metaphorical structure to hang meaning on, The Dark Side of Lace articulates fragility, brokenness, isolation and entrapment via fragments of porcelain dipped linen and lace.
Brassiere – Porcelain bra, 6x8inches, 2015. 
Sacrifice (detail) – Gypsum, Lace, Cradle Cap. 13.5 x 7 x 7 inches, 2015. 
Requiem – Gypsum, Ceramic – 3.5 x 7 x 7 inches, 2015.
so·cial con·struct
noun: A social phenomenon cultivated by society.
Entanglements, collisions, juxtapositions, ripping and tearing are the
underpinnings of this body of work that explores the social construct of rape. Through a series of collages this work inspects the phenomenon and social mechanisms of sexual predation developed and established by society through sophisticated social and cultural practices.
Sexual exploitation is embedded and normalized in contemporary culture and is being disseminated at an ever increasing pace with the advent of the digital age. This work examines how this establishment crosses all socio-economic boundaries to establish a complex network of structures woven into the global landscape.
Domestic – Collage on Linen, 12×12 inches, 2016. 
Incrimination – Collage on Linen, 12×12 inches, 2016
ULULO – VERB: TO SCREAM, ULULATE, WAIL
Wilderness wailing echoes through time
Deep caves holding silence, reverberating sublime
Stretched to capacity, wrought in pain
Twisted into nothingness, everything to gain
The nature of transgressions violating one’s essence are often stored in places deep within the body. A survival mechanism locked in place. Unspoken vigilance waiting. Silenced by fear. Shocked into submission but tenaciously building through cords of time.
Ululation strikes a chord so deep no words can express. A primeval cry wrought in stirring depths, beyond reasoning, touching parts that ride upon the crest of every breathe released.
Silently waiting.
Ululo – Gypsum – Mouth Part – Gypsum – 5 x 4 inches, 2017. 
Ululo (process) – Photograph – bandaging body part for mould making, 2017
To Learn More About Trish And Her Art
Website: www.trishmalcomess.art
Instagram: @trishmalcomess
Facebook: trishmalcomessartist
Twitter: trishmalcomess
