Corporalis
2022-2023
Research and exploration
In collaboration with Marion Schneider
Financed by the Canada Council for the Arts, 2022
Montréal (Qc), Canada
Corporalis is a reinterpretation of the sculptural group Satyre-Hermaphrodite, whose best-known and most complete replica, located in Dresden at the Staatliche
Kunstammlungen, is a small marble. It depicts Hermaphrodite, naked, trying to escape Satyr's embrace. Often interpreted as erotic, the composition seems to us more as a symbol of the violence experienced by non-binary and genderqueer people. The position of Hermaphrodite and Satyre represents for us a strong position of rejection and tension towards this violence and patriarchy. Through a process of drawing, scanning, modeling, 3d printing and casting, we have reinterpreted the original work to make a symbolic, updated representation in our own image; non-gendered, fluid and in constant evolution. In this way, the work pushes the limits of the dialogue between figuration and abstraction, confusing gendered reference marks in the representation of the human body. The organic softness of Corporalis contrasts with the violence of the original sculpture. The bodies have merged into a single entity, and the figurative has become abstract. Everyone's bearings are disturbed and stereotypes defused. The materiality chosen for this sculpture is also very important. Ice melts, becomes liquid. The process of melting this solid ice sculpture into liquid water is part of the work itself. This physical transformation evokes the fluidity of genders and bodies, which are primarily made up of water and are constantly evolving until they dissolve. As the sculpture melts, it's impossible not to think of the environmental issues and establishing a link between queer theory and ecology.
