Ecdysis is a scientific term describing the process by which reptiles shed their skin to allow for new growth. Cherine Fahd’s video installation brings together forty-four large-scale video portraits of women of different ages and walks of life, engaged in an act of struggle and surrender with the artist. Luminously projected in a darkened space, the shedding of skin suggested by these portraits raises tensions between control and release, bringing us to the precipice of transformation. Each subject’s performance tells a different story spanning resistance and acceptance, tenderness and strength, authority and vulnerability.
Curated by Daniel Mudie Cunningham and Jeff Khan
Image: Cherine Fahd, Ecdysis, 2019-21, installation view. Photo: Zan Wimberley.
This is a free exhibition.
Wed-Sun, 10am-5pm
Cherine Fahd is an artist and academic working in the field of photography and video performance. Cherine’s recent work is focused on the role of the camera in creating intimate scenarios between photographer and subject. In turn, she is interested in photography as a social practice that builds connections between people.
Cherine’s current projects include commissions for new video, photo and performance works for the Sydney Opera House and Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, and for Monash Gallery of Art in Melbourne. Other notable works include Apókryphos (2019), which was presented in The National 2019: New Australian Art and in 2020 and won the Australia New Zealand Photobook Award, as well as You Look Like A, which was exhibited at the Australian Centre for Photography.
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Co-commissioned by Resident Company Performance Space and Carriageworks.
A preview of the exhibition will feature in Performance Space’s Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art.
