"Nearly all of those who survive trauma experience some form of sleep disorder, such as insomnia. But for about half of the three-quarters of people, it is vivid dreams that prevent them from sleeping deeply and which open the doors of their consciousness to a path of invention". -excerpt from 13th Mercosul biennial is investigating the work of artists that have included the narrative sequence formed by these three words - Trauma, Dreams, Escape – in their works.
On The Skin of Strangers (detail) 2022
After the pandemic, a condition that was imposed on all humanity we explored new ways to express ourselves, to understand the traumas the pandemic exposed in all of us. The work I've presented in the biennial whose theme is, Trauma, Dreams Escape”, curated by Marcello Dantas, is an extension of an ongoing series that examines the womb( and agency) ; the womb is central in the exploration and is used here as an allegory, referencing beginnings, rebirth and transitions. The human form is stripped of skin, a recurring motif, which is often an identifier that informs stereotypes, the stripped form used here in multiple iterations to explore our internal identities and territories as a mental frame of reference. A reference for a society that is constantly changing. During these times we are faced with ever an ever-changing global climate. From the onset of the pandemic, we find ourselves contending with the illusion that we had a semblance of control our lives were interrupted and changed. This brought about the exploration of our bodies in a time and space of change; the work is an attempt to cement the transitory feeling of developing individuality amidst the context of shared struggle.
Installation stills (Instituto Ling) 2022
The solitude of a mandatory quarantine exposed traumas that were not only individual but global. The times exposed broken systems of governance, a precarious awareness now challenging the values that have, in different forms and times steered global societal structures. Our humanity coming face to face with the fall out resulting from fragmented systems. This is happening on all fronts of the global Social agitation. While this is one of the ways of confronting the dysfunctionality rooted in our Social structures, the intensity of these times is also giving rise to a climate of over-legislation, militarization and intolerance.
Babel (2022)
The womb is an allegory and a response to a shifting global climate and also the template of our dreams, of an imagined state of being, of our Individual resistance projecting a semblance of breaking out from the exoskeleton of collective formatting and expectations. When the figures are stripped off their skin, they are invariably stripping away the pretensions and powers of humanity; allowing room to explore our lives, our influence and expose our collective universal interconnectedness.
Drawing on parallels of the “Tower of Babel”in Genesis;
“and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them”.
To our modern-day, “Babel", examines ambition, the erasure of the individual in favour of the collective, the use of legislation to suppress the rights of the individual.
By exploring the theme of Trauma, Dreams Escape, the work also examines the construction of the individual what is called "ethical substance," which forms the basis of our existential angst, the pursuit of happiness, and the desire to correct our own self-imposed ethical dilemma. Through intentions and actions, both consciously and unconsciously, we act based on our perceived reality of this ethical substance. The work therefore serves as a mirror of the interconnectedness of our collective and shared histories.
