the plea series

The impact of trauma extends beyond the event, modifying behaviors and responses.  The plea series unwinds communication as seen in body language.  While this form of communication is hardly organized into language, much of the time, the gestures of the body say more than spoken words can.  

An affect of abuse is freezing, hardly mustering the ability to speak.  Again, this modification is difficult to unlearn so often one hopes for compassion and understanding.  The internal monologue plays out in gestures of the body, biting the lip or shallow breathing. That monologue is coded in desperate correspondence for empathy. 

Using morse code as a representation of how distant an internal and finite communication is, the scenario either creates a deeply felt connection with others but more likely, a self-imposed alienation, caused by longing for “otherness.”  Overall, the understanding of what is said in these pieces is an exercise of social politics.  There is a question of how much the viewer will engage in what is being revealed by the subject.  Will they watch the demeanor of the subject?  Will they take the time to decode the words using the provided  morse code alphabet?

plea no. 1: a distant monologue of not leaving well enough, alone [version two]
Performance to Video; 4:01 minutes; 2017
plea no. 2: the effect of what is left, unsaid
Performance to Video; Duration: 1:56 minutes; 2016
plea no. 3: the frustration of one
Performance to Video; Duration: 8:08 mins, 2017

Exhibited in: Converge at SIM Gallery, December 2016; Contemporary Renaissance Women at Banana Factory Art Center in Bethlehem, PA, May - June 2018  

Performance to video In small gestures, we hide behind composure in lieu of communicating what we really mean. One often hopes there to be just an understanding of our internal monologue with those we care for because often we find articulating authenticity is sometimes too difficult.

plea no. 1: a distant monologue of not leaving well enough, alone [version two]
Performance to Video; 4:01 minutes; 2017

In small gestures, we hide behind composure in lieu of communicating what we really mean. One often hopes there to be just an understanding of our internal monologue with those we care for because often we find articulating authenticity is sometimes too difficult. That monologue becomes almost a code for desperate correspondence.

plea no. 1: a distant monologue of not leaving well enough, alone [version one]
Duration: 1:22 minutes, 2016

plea no. 2: the effect of what is left, unsaid
Duration: 1:56 minutes; 2016

Revised] The figure shown contrasted with a stone, recalls an internal landscape and the visceral swallow of one's words that bubble up from one's throat but are yet too difficult and distant from being said. In small gestures, we hide behind composure in lieu of communicating what we really mean.

plea no. 3: the frustration of one
Duration: 8:08 mins, 2017

There are often encounters where we know exactly what we want to say yet, when faced with the opportunity, we fall inarticulate. We place our insecurity in the foreground and watch ourselves in frustration struggle to speak authentic truth. The result: a garbled mess.