Neckbrace Dress. Moulton explained
that the dresses were the first part of the
project she created in graduate school,
and that Cynthia was a tool she devised
to activate the dresses.
In Cynthia’s universe, objects have a
mystical relationship with the body,
as prosthesis, as portal, as autonomous
entity. In Galactic Pot Healer Ascension—a two-channel video with sound
and sculpture—Cynthia accidentally
shatters a teal, ceramic vessel, and then
attempts to have it fixed by a mysterious, pink-robed figure (the pot healer.)
Unable to repair the shards, the healer
has Cynthia lie down for a massage.
The healer then proceeds to sculpt a
new pot from Cynthia’s clay back, digging handfuls of flesh and molding it
into the sides of the new vessel. The pot
is fired in a microwave, and comes out
as an exact replica of the first shattered
ceramic vessel. The shards of a similar
pot are displayed in the accompanying
sculptural video installation. Footage
of the pot healer performing ritualistic
gestures is projected onto a trapezoidal,
sculptural base. Each of the gestures
sends a small, projected object ascending a set of sculptural stairs, in a video
The Undiscovered Drawer, mixed media installation
game-like motion.
The Undiscovered Drawer, a single-channel video with sound, was
displayed in a teal cabinet decorated
with small objects—reading glasses with a third, hinged, lens for the
third eye; statues of round, smooth,
abstracted feminine figures; and
mannequin hands. In the video, Cynthia becomes attached to various objects by an invisible force, the objects
following her around as she moves.
At another point in the video, Cynthia repurposes an ergonomic keyboard into a musical instrument and
performs a rendition of Coldplay’s
Clocks. The installation contained
several other references to marking
the passage of time, including weekly pill organizers and the presence of
multiple time-keeping devices.
Each video, installation, and object
in the exhibition blurred the distinctions between the body and its
extensions into space—the objects
through which we understand, manipulate, and communicate with the
world.
You can see more at:
ShanaMoulton.info
Pepto Bismol Immodium Walker Dress, Eyes Without a Face, Princess Neck Brace installation shot
Orlando’s Art Scene, v. 1.5
40