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"Reflexion Obscura" is a video about child abuse that forces the viewer to confront the darkness felt by an abused child. Many children are physically and psychologically abused--by family members, governments, corporations, or schools; however, only sensational reports of maltreatment and violence are common in the news. Western societies' obsession with youth has transformed the lives of children into states of idyllic perfection, simplifying accounts of abuse into stories of good versus evil and hiding the complexity of the problem.

Taking cues from the child in the video, I tried to preserve the strange feeling of her performance; the energy of her imagination became a medium for my own reflections. Seeing the repressed pain surface in the movements of the child, I came to better understand the indelibility of abuse's aftermath. The morose quality of the enactment jars our sensibilities, as we typically view children as more innocent reflections of ourselves. By exploring the depth and complexity of the child's emotions, I hope to allow the feelings of each viewer to emerge according to their own experiences.

Statement for Varna Gallery
Performance for “Reflexion Obscura” video installation

We are all filled with aspirations. Yet our dreams are often suppressed, either by self-imposed limitations or external circumstances. During this performance, I invite participants to express their dreams by writing them on inflated balloons. Some balloons will pop under the pressure, frustrating the writers.This represents the repressed dream. The dream-balloons that survive will be collected in a container made of raw meshed wire. The balloons that burst on the sharp edges of the wire represent the demoralizing effects of factors outside of our control. In the final stage of the performance, participants are invited to read aloud the surviving dream-balloons, and then to determine whether the balloon--and hence the dream--should be destroyed or remain intact. The arbitrary nature of this power, when juxtaposed with the potential for destruction, alludes to the inescapable cycle of abuse.