Domesticating Monsters

My artistic and academic research has been examining how society displays what our dominant culture seeks to repress or even sanitize. ‘What is normal?’ and the reverse, ‘what is abnormal?’ have been recurring questions sparked by my fascination with the borderline areas beyond socialized identity. I am drawn to the confused boundaries that overthrow certain claims about identity. I question how one allocates identity when dealing with the perception of eccentricity as well as the absurd, the grotesque, the uncanny and the bizarre?This cumulative research process has resulted in the creation of two final works that comprise my graduating project, Domesticating Monsters. Both pieces are interconnected through their underlying themes and the overarching research process; both propose questions about identity and social behavior exposed by body language and speech. One is an audio-visual installation presented across 3 screens creating multiple viewpoints, alternately supported or juxtaposed by an original sound collage, the other is a staged live performance made up of a cast of 6 interdisciplinary performers that evolves from the installation.