SERIES
The Spike of the Opuntia
Fraternize
Beyond Blame
But hey, I’m trying
Out of _
SMIRK
The hands that build me
FILMS
Mature for her age
I am sorry
Suicide and song
About grief
others
EXHIBITIONS
Royal Academy of Arts (KABK)
About me
Contact
I am sorry
The video begins with small gestures that feel ordinary: brushing my hair, putting on make up, eating carefully, repeating the movements that I learned to associate with being well behaved, feminine and acceptable.
I was thinking about the ways gender roles are taught through repetition. Not always through rules that are clearly spoken, but through habits, expectations and the constant feeling that there is a right way to behave. My own experience was shaped by being the good girl, but I know that other women are punished for completely different reasons. The rule changes depending on who you are, but the pressure to fit somewhere remains.
In the video, I repeat these gestures again and again until they stop feeling harmless. They become faster, harder and eventually violent. What begins as routine turns into something difficult to escape. I was interested in that point where an action you perform to feel accepted starts working against you, and where the effort to remain inside the role becomes the thing that breaks it.