In January 2018, I lost the use of her right hand for an undetermined amount of time. The five magic words I used, making every face change in the emergency room, were: “I can’t feel my fingers.” Followed a series of painful, unasked for touches, pinches, caresses, and tickles. During these few hours in the hospital, the line between wellness and pain, help and harm, consent and violation, started to blur.
As an artist, the implications of restraining the dominant hand are very clear. But as a woman?
Keep x Hands to Myself is a video and series of images exploring the fragmentation of the female body in relation to touch. Using x-rays and CT-scan results, I used self-representation from the inside out to represent the contradictions of female desire. How does one set boundaries in the age of constant surveillance? How does the male gaze shape both the real and the performed desires of touch?
As an artist, the implications of restraining the dominant hand are very clear. But as a woman?
Keep x Hands to Myself is a video and series of images exploring the fragmentation of the female body in relation to touch. Using x-rays and CT-scan results, I used self-representation from the inside out to represent the contradictions of female desire. How does one set boundaries in the age of constant surveillance? How does the male gaze shape both the real and the performed desires of touch?
This project is taking form within the AiR program at De-construkt in Red Hook, Brooklyn.