INTRA-

 

  A continuous process of redefinition and examination of my identity, and the need to attain a conscious presence within social webs; these are the characteristics that drive this study on the meanings of my “being” . The study is focused on a need for an examination of the functions of the things that are “within”. Through this, the terms that characterise me become more flexible more vulnerable more fluid and malleable. That way I attain more possibilities of becoming, which exist outside of the socially expected norms.  

 Intra- invites you to negotiate your own identity and your memories; to create new dynamics within the conjunction of the “outside” and the “inside”.

 I present my self-portrait as a bust. An autonomous bust which exists without being defined by its context or its bodily physical presence. That way, even though I keep my physical shape, I am able to explore an intimate relation with the non physical. The fruitful dynamic of this relation - between the physical body as stable, and the non physical as fluid - gives motivation for a deconstruction of my own presence and image, which acts as a critique of the social norms, the stable social constructs, within which my physical presence -my body- exists and develops.

 In  all videos of Intra- I use smoke as a common feature, so that it can become the vehicle of a unified narrative. This aims at an introspective analysis. The work deliberately oscillates between the imaginary and the real. Places which seemingly look ideal or utopian end up becoming restrictive and restricted, enclosed within boxes and fish bowls. The past is always present within this process. The subconscious subliminal images that I create are part of a constant act of redefinition.

  Intra- is presented as a question, which creates conditions that form rifts and cracks within my stable reality. The self-portraits are not to be experienced as finalised decisions of my “being”, they are instead versions of “becoming” which are constantly reshaped and reformulated.

 

text: Iris Pissaride / Christos Symeonides