I am a writer, artist, filmmaker and critic. My writing ranges from poetry to critical essays. Many of my texts are auto-ethnographic, in which I use personal and familial experiences to discuss cultural memory and social critique. As an artist and filmmaker, I also “write” with images. In my work, narratives often emerge out of the conglomerate of image, sound and captioning. My subjects involve oppression, trauma, personal agency, home, language and time. My themes concern grief, repair, hope and belonging. In 2022, I started turning (moving) images into physical objects and situating them in space. Through installation—a relatively new strand of my practice—I have begun to investigate the materiality of images and its world-making and storytelling potentials.
Inventory of tactility - Supported by an O&O grant from Oct 2022 to April 2023, I researched tactility in relation to images and image-making. Among other things, I experimented with (bio)materials and weaving. As my practice continues, I will develop and incorporate these processes in new image and installation works. Images clock-wise: biomaterial samples, close-up biomaterial collage, projection on a sample, imprint of a leaf in a biomaterial collage
Units of Keeping (2022) - Installation with two films. Living and dried plans, research literature, embroidery hoop, sewing threads, metal wire, packaging material. The films are "there is no death in gravity" (2020) and "since brass nor stone nor earth nor endless sea" (2021). Documentation by Sonia Magiapane
Units of Keeping (2022) - Documentation by Sonia Mangiapane
since brass nor stone nor earth nor endless sea (2021) - excerpt from short film (7'4''). Synopsis: In a prison guarded by the blind, her languages become rhythms. A fly buzzes, flowers dry, soup boils over — there is an inevitability in the air. Small things seem infinite, as thoughts take on the shape of sounds.
there is no death in gravity (2020) - excerpt from short film (7'37''). Synopsis: What is the sound of a heartbreak? When does an apple die? I listen to a mundane cosmo through the footsteps of my neighbor.
T,M,RR,W (2021) - still image from short film (2'5''), music by Vogel Ray. Official selection for: 18th Athens Digital Arts Festival, 45th Norwegian Short Film Festival, Cinedans Fest'22 in Amsterdam. Synopsis: An off-sync mirror. A portal of touch.
What falls resurrects. What dances gains consciousness. What rises repeats. (For all the video works on this page, you can see them in my vimeo portfolio (pwd: glassclouds). https://vimeo.com/showcase/9377220)
Open Art Speak (2022) - For this project, I interviewed 10 artists in Rotterdam about their work and their challenges. The name of the project, Open Art Speak, reflects my intent to create a space for honest discussions on artist lives and artistic practices. Informed by a sense of friendship, these conversations critique the institutionalized "International Art English" which obscures the artists' struggles and normalizes the neoliberal logic of (self-)exploitation. I have two hopes with this project: first, that artists find solidarity and inspiration as they read about experiences of their peers; second, that these accounts give a more accurate idea of the realities of artists and thus contribute to wider public and cultural policy debates. Visit https://openartspeak.com
Cannonball and other stories: or, how to hold an image (2021) - excerpt of performance lecture during the Inward Outward Symposium in October 2021. In this performance lecture, I deconstruct an archive film from the EYE film collection— looking deeply into the emotions the film holds and questioning how to hold a contested image. My presentation consists a collage of written script, voice (both my own and computer-generated voices) and photographs, archive images and videos.
passage (2019) - 1'11'', HD video with stereo sound
Querida (2019-?) - excerpt from documentary. Due to COVID-19 constraints and changes, this film has been on hold. Synopsis on Vimeo.
