Statement

In his essay The Labyrinth, George Bataille deploys a comparison between conventional architecture and the labyrinth, as rhetoric to critique the repression inherent in social order. If conventional architecture is a structure that imposes order upon chaos, the labyrinth is one where all oppositions encounter and collide into chaos. The encounter and separation of different beings in the labyrinth recur, making them more complex and beautiful.

I construct such a labyrinth through my work. The labyrinth I build is one of narrative and imagery. It is a space of feeling lost, disjointed clues, enforced movement, unpredictability, potential danger, anxiety, desolation, secrecy, unexpected encounters and a desire for an exit.

Creatures in this labyrinth are monstrous, yet also vulnerable without the shield of the social norm that defines what is good and appropriate. A small person might feel vulnerable because of other people’s perception of her as a lesser person; a pervert because of the sense of shame that is generated by the collective norm; the ugly person because of the current idea of what is beautiful and ugly. I intend to question the social order that imposes vulnerability upon people, disclosing how we are all monsters under its rule.