Mimesis (2012-2014)
With Mimesis I continue my exploration of the self and the human quest for identity.
While the complexity and fleetingness of our self might make it look like a futile task to truly capture the essence of our identity, we create, share and look at millions of images of ourselves every day, in a tireless attempt to provide tangible proof of our existence. To be reassured, we somehow need to make ourselves more seen – by self and other.
As any look in the mirror, photograph taken or portrait painted only offers a small glimpse of a being, images merely serve as a representation of the original. But what is the reality of the self?
With Mimesis I create a fictional world of representation that mediates our relationship to reality. I appropriate, change and reinterpret the original representations, in an effort to invite the viewer to look beyond the surface.
Here one may discover further embedded layers – the uncanny, the mysterious, the sad, the joyful, the painful – an expanding perceptual experience inviting exploration of the unknown parts of the self.
Thus Mimesis encourages us to engage with our deep, emotional longing to understand, articulate and visualize the complexity and universality of the human condition; and to take us beyond our usual, conditioned way of seeing and feeling.