video installation, 4 canal

20 min

2024 
 

The video installation Connecting from the Inside Out (2024) and the Objects for Solidarity (2023) within the exhibition aim to redefine the contours of our shared relationship to the notion of vulnerability while offering an opportunity to reimagine individual and collective well-being. Through this installation, the artist poses the following questions: when personal and collective grief seems insurmountable, what does care look like? How can we create more spaces for release? How can we foster collective healing, especially for racialized women and gender-nonconforming people? 

Made of wood and textiles, Objects for Solidarity become extensions of Dam's desires to connect with others, to extend a hand. The artist suggests that the same tools enabling her to heal her wounds are also accessible to others and that, in turn, she acknowledges that everyone also has valuable knowledge to share. The chosen forms reflect the idea of collaboration and mutual aid: each tool cannot reach its full potential without another person's contribution. In the video, the fluid movements of the performers - Miranda Chan, Jeimy Oviedo Quesada, Aurélie Ann Figaro and Nicole Jacobs - bring the work to life, adding an extra dimension to the artist's intentions. By combining somatic voices and tender gestures, their spontaneous actions offer captivating insights into the breadth of caring and community healing. Through their sensitivity and under the direction of Be Heintzman Hope, the performers co-created a nuanced picture of the possibilities of somatic practices while highlighting the strength of being together. 

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Written by Geneviève Wallen

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