Statement
I make carefully constructed performances which I record to video. The work raises questions about the nature of performance and the difference between live and recorded spectacle. Informed by a background in classical music, I rehearse rigorously in order to create controlled work. Not a documentation of a live event with an audience but a precise performance to camera.
Early works manifest as ‘vignettes of extreme domesticity’: everyday tasks that can be a poignant reflection of human relationships and idiosyncrasies. Extreme repetition of these mundane tasks exposes them as absurd and humorous.
Recently I have been looking at how genuine human emotions differ from their Romantic depictions in opera, film and literature. As a result my videos have adopted formal characteristics of these art forms such as costume, set and lighting. Moving away from domestic routine I am exploring the archetypes and broader narrative structures that opera and film rely on, particularly regarding gender and love. Often in opera and Hollywood film we are aware of being presented with hyperbolic, simplified versions of ourselves. Character is elevated to archetype and human emotion becomes high-octane drama. I am investigating these representations, specifically those of women in romantic relationships.
Despite meticulous planning, recorded performance reveals an important dichotomy which is a fundamental part of my work: a desire for perfection that can never be achieved and a necessity for mistakes and idiosyncrasy.
Over the past two years my practice has started to reflect and link all these concerns. The quest for perfection as a performer has begun to function as an analogy for the quest for perfection in romance.
Early works manifest as ‘vignettes of extreme domesticity’: everyday tasks that can be a poignant reflection of human relationships and idiosyncrasies. Extreme repetition of these mundane tasks exposes them as absurd and humorous.
Recently I have been looking at how genuine human emotions differ from their Romantic depictions in opera, film and literature. As a result my videos have adopted formal characteristics of these art forms such as costume, set and lighting. Moving away from domestic routine I am exploring the archetypes and broader narrative structures that opera and film rely on, particularly regarding gender and love. Often in opera and Hollywood film we are aware of being presented with hyperbolic, simplified versions of ourselves. Character is elevated to archetype and human emotion becomes high-octane drama. I am investigating these representations, specifically those of women in romantic relationships.
Despite meticulous planning, recorded performance reveals an important dichotomy which is a fundamental part of my work: a desire for perfection that can never be achieved and a necessity for mistakes and idiosyncrasy.
Over the past two years my practice has started to reflect and link all these concerns. The quest for perfection as a performer has begun to function as an analogy for the quest for perfection in romance.