Extension - Hands-on-Hips
2023
Live Performance -Installation
Trespassing: An (Un)Intended Unity, Museum Night at Huis Marseille Museum
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In my performance, I draw inspiration from the works of Tarrah Krajnak, who uses her body, hair, and hands to engage with the works of other artists. Through her gestures, she uncovers a poetic presence within the female body. Responding to her presence in the room, I will perform a long durational piece where hair becomes an extension of my installation. Using my braided hair, I will create intricate motifs on the exhibition floor, weaving connections between the fresco and Krajnak’s photographs, uncovering layers of hidden meaning.
The performance begins in the centre of the room, amidst my hair installation on the floor. I will move slowly, allowing viewers to walk around me and observe the installation from all angles. Gradually, I will extend my movements, carrying my long braided hair into other exhibition spaces featuring Krajnak’s work. These movements will evolve in response to her artworks, creating a dialogue between my body, the space, and her creations. While my physical presence shifts throughout the museum, the hair installation will remain in Garden Room 401/Repose, anchoring the connection between my performance and the exhibition.
Through this interaction, I aim to explore the shared themes between my work and Krajnak’s—particularly our mutual fascination with hidden languages. While Krajnak finds poetic meaning in the works of others, I channel the silent language of Anatolian women, who used their hair and embroidery to speak of subjects they could not express openly. In Krajnak’s performative piece Black Sun, where she erases a landscape photograph with her hair, I see a parallel with the women of Anatolia, whose symbolic languages were erased or forgotten over time.
My installation, composed of braided hair, serves as both a connection and a statement. It bridges Krajnak’s artworks, my physical presence, and the fresco overhead, reclaiming the silenced voices of women and bringing them into a shared space of visibility and meaning.
