GABRIELLE VICTORIA MEYEROWITZ

[un]touchable banquet

This exhibition is a combination of multiple works kept hidden away for many years . Upon bringing them out of The Closet , dusting them off , exposing them to new light , and readjusting them to fit the framework of a current perspective - I have found renewed voice and release in what I once thought was either dead , or feared lacked relevance

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much of this exhibition has to do with "peer pressure" :

repression , oppression , 

depression , suppression 

of the true naked desired self often left :

- hidden in cellars & attics 

- discarded or ignored through distraction or substitution  

- shrouded in fictional or fantastical costumes so the desired self can be avoided in a "practical" sense as part of "real life" while the true desired self can still be satiated through a persona kept safely untouchable on a stage . 

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The injustice of these kinds of "-pressions" ( PIE root ; “per” , meaning : “to strike” ) saddens me - and I see it everywhere and in many forms . Some examples : 

Repression-

[ re = backward/against/undoing ]

identifying oneself according to predetermined gender roles and the social constructs within family dynamics and social circles ; feeling pressured to behave or embody a certain persona based on financial or hierarchical status

Suppression-

[ sub = under/below/beneath ]

subconscious fear ( internalised homophobia ) around queerness for those who came-of-age within a wider conservative cultural structure/framework and/or around the time of the AIDS epidemic , when queerness was linked with disease and skewed Christian ideologies of the devil . Those that were entering puberty or early adulthood at this time , did not have the same privilege or ease younger generations begin to enjoy now surrounding their sexual/gender orientation/identity 

Oppression-

[ op = rape/press/push down ]

political control over a woman's right to choose what is best for her body regarding an ( unwanted ) pregnancy - regardless of the reason behind it

governments judging and then deciding what is appropriate and what is not to inject or put into the individual body regardless of the nuances and uniqueness of varying immune systems 

Depression-

[ de = cover/press down/lower ]

disconnection to or lack of trust in nature , intuition , and imagination

lack of understanding the underlying cyclical nature/evolution of things and clinging to outdated modes of operating without seeing that “surfacial” particularities are irrelevant

fear of death or big change

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Often I see the ones that appear most outspoken or critical to be the most afraid . I have also held onto fear - for years keeping myself hidden - afraid to share my artistic voice beyond the landscape of my inner world , imagination , and a few chosen special souls I share space with & trust . Meanwhile on the outside - I put on a brave face - yet keep my mouth sealed - afraid I may hurt someone through my view , or appear crazy if my voice were truly heard , or be viewed as an idealist without ground or rationality were I to fully embrace and live out a desired reality and life .

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The world and the landscape of the individual self is changing in these roaring 20's as they rush ahead - all seems to move so quickly these days and the Digital plane is creating a whole new self now a part of the human self . Inside of this world - the issues I've stated above that primarily are found in the physical one - are highlighted through digital ‘glitches’ .

Rather then using my art to criticise this new era we are inevitably moving into - I'd prefer to see it as an opportunity to reflect on how we can grow as a society & individuals .

Criticism & use of “dark humour” is an easy response . And initially it appears more marketable because it keeps people in a state of “mesmerised horror” - especially when it comes to these latest "hottt topics" projected onto this shiny new landscape . These themes are nothing new - but appear so because of the “artificial” nature of their new stage they are housed within and so are more easily visible because they are no longer so “personal” - instead - they are projected . This can make many uneasy they are losing control/autonomy/individuality/or privacy in their lives and can cause much fear or anxiety when the stage itself is viewed negatively simply because it is “foreign” . The subtextual ITCH that was once not given voice or space to breathe in real life is seen as a negative GLITCH and the original desire found within the safety of this [un]touchable stage is now viewed as a momentary lapse in judgement or worse - fake .

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Other reactions are to view the “other” as just that - “other” : a joke , an insignificant victim of social media and the digital monster - written off as an unreal fantasy of a wounded human being .

“Ghosting”/”blocking”/”cancel-culture”/”catfishing”/or stonewalling become the norm then because intraactions within this new format for expression and language are viewed as irrelevant to “real life” or practical reality . This is fear and ego talking and is quite heartbreaking .

( Within the social media landscape - it can feel like highschool bullying & peer-pressure : popular kids vs. the outcasts ) .

Every human being’s experience is real - no matter the changing set design or stage - this is true têchné

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Growth ( at times painful when resisted ) is inevitable in any scenario as it perpetuates life ( evolution ) and thus transcends death ( recycling ) & avoidance , dismissal , or non-acceptance of another’s reality - only creates more death : the digital landscape then a graveyard filled with hungry ghosts , rather than expanded integrated humans ~ being ..

Because of the fragility and unknowability of this emerging new world - I am not interested in using my artistic voice in a way that criticises or devalues any individual experience as “unreal” or unjustified or irrelevant or “warns” people of the horrors of digital noise and “loss of privacy” for individual self . It is human nature to operate interdependently and the uniqueness of an individual story is just a slight variant on the collective’s - therefore “privacy” is simply a lack of sight ( blindness ) in understanding this underlying connectivity … noise also is part of reality - all matter begins in sound/vibration and this new awareness of the plethora of noise around us - is simply an acknowledgement of the heat of potential timelines and creative storylines available to us .

Every human being who interacts with another human being through the digital lens in an interpersonal manner ( which is inevitable ) is real . And I see this as an opportunity - to open up a closet door to a previously banned and denied aspect of Self - and weave whole the disparate fragments of the human self and soul-song or spirit-voice into union .

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This is what this [un]touchable BANQUET ( or exhibition ) is about .

When all is seemingly untouchable - and the individual is denied the basic human right to choose freely what they truly desire or who they truly are - this also offers an opportunity to open a Closet Door to explore the crevices , cracks , and dark corners left ignored for so many years - more intensely then before - to dive into the “why” or roots around a formally denied topic/issue or repressed aspect of self by isolating it through the removal of the desired "dish" typically satiated through the Instantaneous-Gratification of the outer senses in physical reality - and instead using the inner senses to taste that which is always pulsing underneath the surface .

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Nudity is not a naked body . Nudity is hidden in code & exposed on stage through rhyme and plasticised time … look at a friend’s social media profile , and you may see their true self crying out for the acceptance and true wild freedom they long for ( & are afraid to give themselves ) through their many postulated posts , and augmented , artificially implanted [re]births . It’s all there : the emperor wears no clothes .

Let’s open the door : and highlight the cracks in gold light [ kintsugi ] - and weave it all whole - no matter the stage & the strangeness of the unknown or foreign .

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all perspectives are relevant and no person’s experience or desires should be banished or left unmet just because they seem new or were [re]found outside the framework of “normalcy” .

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For truly - [ I am a piece of you and you are me - born anew ]

[ 📸 Quentin Bacon ]