05/22/2023 - 06/05/2023
BEAMS Residency

Ouroboros is a series of six works created during a two-week residency at the previously abandoned Teatrihoov theatre in Viljandi, Estonia. The series is titled after the ouroboros, an ancient symbol of a snake eating its own tail in an infinite cycle of self-destruction and renewal. The creation of this series was an opportunity to continue working with expanded painting through light and reflection while taking on the subject of my own invisible disability. This series, using my own body in still images and video, draws from my lifetime experience of masking a recently diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder. This masking, a never-ending transforming, chameleon behaviour leads my body and mind to repeated burnout; caught in a continual forming and reforming of the ‘self’, monitoring and restricting my body, speech, and emotions in order to make those around me comfortable and conform to societal standards.

The image of my figure, which bounces around a screen like a screensaver, is being projected onto a sheet of mirror acetate hung on the wall and reflected onto the building's architecture. The transformation and warping of my body are a direct result of the projection’s interaction with the imperfections of the mirror surface. Not only does my figure contend with the invisible structures of the mirror acetate, but also the physical restrictions of the architectural space of the theatre itself.