self–other.
Some take to the streets to show their concern. To join in a moment of social agency, where plural bodies assemble to take-over, push, lament, negotiate, gain power and lose control. I see a protest as a transitory interplay between corporeal beings, urban structures, and the performative. Moment of body kinetics—where frustration and confusion are simultaneously the source and expression of the struggle at hand.
The crude materiality present in my paintings and sculptures references urban aesthetics, where things happen fast. Bodies pass in transit, assemble, become visible, and, through that, political. A built environment supports these bodies—simultaneously regulating their movements and attempting to discipline. It could be seen as both upholding and menacing.
The makeshift sculptures suggest humanoid creatures; or maybe a type of barricade safeguarding us from something or someone. Built from common building materials, these structural elements relate to the architectural and urban forms like a wall or street barrier. These structures define the space; they can prohibit movements even while remaining permeable.
Rickety and weak creatures immobilised in paintings and sculptures are silent. They have no way to shout their rallying cry. This feeble protest—a procession of severed limbs unable to detect what is ahead—keeps pushing forward. There is no other way. We must keep going. Uncertain and clumsy, they are both silly and tragic.
Limbs are falling, slipping, losing balance. Their precarity and instability reflect the anxiety of times where no-one seems to be in control, yet all appear to be under control. Societies of control, Deleuze writes, are becoming increasingly fragmented. This power affects and works through the body. Approaching a fall or grind, the limbs hesitate. Their awkward tension echoes a sense of confusion; which affects our moral, social and political hopes.
