Sinking (2025)

Video-documented performance exploring themes of familiar horror within the domestic space using the action of washing dishes. The video was later projected into the same space of the action and looped indefinitely, creating further inquiry through site-specific installation.

In her essay "The Domestic Spaces of Video", Catherine Elwes speaks of the home as an ambiguous terrain for women—a safe haven from the prying gaze of society, or a prison of "domestic drudgery." Traditionally, a woman is expected to conduct household chores as a form of natural order, meaning she should complete these tasks whether she is out in the workforce or a homemaker by trade. Because of this close relationship between women and the domestic space, women often take the lead when designing the home as well. However, no matter how a person decorates their workplace, work continues to be work. Housework in particular is never-ending, and the only reward for its labor is temporary happiness before the cycle repeats. "Sinking" uses the action of washing dishes to explore these themes of "familiar horror", a term coined by Italian philosopher Paolo Virno to describe the feeling that arises when one realizes the domestic is rooted in many social and economic issues. The video is projected onto the kitchen backsplash looping indefinitely, referencing the infinite and unavoidable nature of domestic labor.