I can’t see my veins
2024
Lipstick on paper, video, print
Completed as part of the VAV Gallery Summer Physical Residency at Concordia University, July 2024.
“I can’t see my veins” combines exploratory movement and printmaking through video and print. The project originated from taking the concept of a ‘typeface’ literally, with writing text across my face in lipstick and then printing it onto paper. With the opportunity to work at a larger scale during this residency, this concept expanded to working with the larger surfaces of the body - across limbs, shoulders, hips, palms of my hands and soles of my feet. The intention was to explore the mind and body connection and discover what my body wanted to say in the process. Experimenting with printmaking, video and bookmaking allow the project to have many forms, each with their own narrative.
On July 3rd 2024, I was struck by a cyclist as I was walking across the street. In the moments of shock and fear following the impact, we lay on the busy street, entangled with each other and the bike. My arm was injured: it was bleeding and deformed. I immediately worried about the future of this project - I had just sustained a significant injury to my body which was the subject of the upcoming work. This residency thus evolved into my processing of the accident. In the healing process for my body, I gradually regained my movement and shed the layers of physical shock that entered my body through the impact of the cyclist and the ground. In the healing process for my mind, I was slow and patient. I used my need for words to print as a way of finding what I needed to release, then using my body to help let these feelings go.
The body is a canvas. Our skin holds the marks for the stories we tell. The way we move lets us discover, and rediscover, our abilities. It is in moments of artistic exploration and community gathering that we grow and heal.
