My research is a case study based on practical experience. My work is a byproduct of my attempts at personal philosophy, with the body being at its centre. I focus on the body as the skin that spans between society and the taboos of sexuality and mortality, in an effort to discover meaning.

 

At the same time I see the body as a barrier between the self and the Other, the same way the skin is a barrier between the internal and the external. My work is an existential exploration of both sides of the skin, with the main goal being transcendence.

 

I attempt to achieve transcendence into the Other, through the gaze, religion and community. The gaze assists me to turn the body into an object that can be observed and analysed. I cut it open, mutilate it and categorise it. Religion is used to give the body the serene importance that the spiritual has been traditionally assigned with. Community draws the self out of the individual body and into a communal body, where experiences become interchangeable.

 

I use the female body as a default, the same way society presents the male body as such. The female body is charged with controversy; it can be associated with comfort and uneasiness. Society and the media are trying to restrict it within tight frames, which create the desire for escape, keeping the notion of “The personal is political” always relevant. The escape that can deliver the female body and offer it catharsis, is acceptance and I use the medium of art activism to achieve that.