Dead Weight
Art is my guts spilling on the floor to form a smiley face.
Art has always been a way for me to process my experiences. Most of my work is an attempt at a conversation, sometimes urging, but mostly sharing, saying, ‘This is how I felt, how did you feel?’ It is not necessarily a call to action, but rather a hand on your shoulder that is meant to understand. I don’t bind myself to any specific media; rather, let the subjects themselves take shape as they morph. My projects become a bridge for individual, yet shared experience - through our shared vulnerability, we can connect to each other.
The performance I have been working on follows the story of a ‘couple’ stuck in a loop, presenting a dessert recipe to the audience over and over, but failing miserably. Visually, it takes shape as a more theatrical piece, in which the main actors are myself and a life-size, jointed ceramic man who moves in a lifelike yet limp manner. Having an autobiographical basis, the performance explores themes like grief, obsession, and rumination, building up until it culminates in a confrontation between myself and the man I have created inside my own head. At its core, though, this performance is about the inability to let go.
While I continue working on this project, for the Graduation show, I am presenting a different version of the performance, which is less theatrical and elaborate and is instead focused and durational. I will be performing during as many of the open hours of the show, continuously breaking and putting the man I have created back together.