My new series of work focuses on my encounter with a 19th century psychiatric photograph of an anonymous woman and how I displace the double dimension of this image - as an object of power and as an affective object – into a translation of obsessively worked objects of art. Science and religion, as languages of power, stand as references for the iconography of psychiatric photography and the devotional art of the Baroque period with its elaborate ornamentation and ability to create emotional proximity with the viewer of my work.
The title The Unseen describes my perception of the photograph and the intensity of psychiatric research at the time it was taken as well as devotional and dramatic connotations that all unite in their obsessive qualities. The main thread running through my work is the notion of an intense communication. It can be found in every aspect of my work and is visually expressed in my choice of material and technique.
Science and religion determine my field of action. Their specific languages are displaced by my translation into small-scale objects using the techniques of embroidery and painting. Thus I am creating a relationship as well as a paradox between the languages of power and art. The obsessive nature of my work results in the final setting of an archive in order to enhance a sense of preservation and intimacy.
Photography can provide a powerful metaphor in its ability to evoke a double moment of historical awareness, of being both in the present and in the past. The aesthetic experience of religious icons stands as a metaphor for the concept of my work. The presentation of power that issues from the photograph due to the confinement of the protagonist in a mental asylum and the obsessive nature of medical research gain more importance for me than the mere representation of the unknown woman in the photograph.
