Slipped
Digital video
01:30
2022

In this piece, the subject of the video is the central figure in Marche en Campagne, a lithograph by Jean Dubuffet from 1975. This artwork resides in the home of a close family member, and I always take note of its new position in the frame when walking by; its continual slippage over time. The location of the piece in this domestic setting is such that the reflections from its surroundings—the backdrop, the windows, the other objects in the living room—almost always infiltrate the portrait, no matter the time of day. As an artist, it is difficult to separate the work I make from the time and context in which it is made. I felt drawn to this central figure in this portrait because of their stance and complex emotional disposition at this particular moment in history. I saw reflected in the figure refugees, prisoners, soldiers and ordinary people all simultaneously fighting and fleeing; the large hand holding themself up, so as not to fall too quickly. The facial expression is intentionally ambiguous; a sort of discombobulated hero. In Slipped, the figure plots their escape from the frame and seeks refuge in the reflections from the glass, the life outside the print, where the borders between home and exile become blurred.