Connecting from the Inside Out is a culmination of My-Van Dam’s in-depth introspective work, emphasizing the importance of embodied resilience that manifests as care for ourselves and each other. Through her multidisciplinary practice, Dam explores how inherited societal trauma settles in the body, shaping our sense of self and others. Over the past years, she has developed a body of work that examines the processes of unearthing cultural memories, healing intergenerational trauma and creating vulnerable spaces. Striving to break free from systemic and harmful patterns, Dam has produced a variety of tools to generate transformative platforms for herself and others. 

The video installation and accompanying Objects for Solidarity seek to redefine the contours of our collective relationship with vulnerability while providing an opportunity to reimagine individual and collective well-being. Dam’s installation poses many questions: What does care look like when personal and collective mourning feel insurmountable? How do we foster more spaces for release? How can we sustain collective healing, especially for racialized women and gender non-conforming folks? 

Through the interplay of opacity and transparency, Dam invites the audience to reflect on the interdependency of communal transmutation and the invisibilized emotional labour needed to create spaces of solidarity. Through her conscientious approach, the artist emphasizes the power of coalescing with intentionality, recognizing that our decolonial futures are intertwined. Connecting from the Inside Out addresses our unique healing journeys and the role they play in our collective pursuit of liberation. 

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Written by Geneviève Wallen

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