The 'Position' series
The Position series brings together a group of works that investigate position as an artistic, spatial and political act. Each work departs from the situation in which it is placed, examining how bodies, materials and contexts shape relations of power, vulnerability and agency. Across different forms and temporalities, the series traces how positioning - of the self, of objects, of viewers - becomes a way to reveal the structures that condition our presence in the world.
Site Context and Sculptural Framework
Position I is a site-specific sculptural installation that explores the entangled relationships between human vulnerability, consumer culture, and systems of economic and political power. Originally presented in a former public toilet turned art space in Lonneker (NL), the work can also be shown independently of its original location, retaining its core concerns through material presence, spatial tension, and temporal transformation.
Position I was a temporary, site-specific installation located in a former public toilet in the town of Lonneker, the Netherlands, now repurposed as a small public art gallery. Two sculptural forms made of red clothing occupied the divided interior of the structure, each representing half of a human figure: one a headless torso, the other the lower body and legs. The entrance, sealed with glass doors, allowed continuous public view of the scene.
Embodied Tension and Temporal Collapse
Suspended in a posture of restraint, arms bound behind the back, knees bent, the figure evoked a state of powerless suspension. Though the garments were empty, they clearly suggested a human presence. A subtle transformation unfolded over time: balloons hidden within the clothes slowly deflated over several weeks, causing the body to gradually collapse. This built-in process introduced a durational element, turning the work into a visual unraveling.
Position embodies the moment within ’40 Titles’ where the body becomes visible as a site of power, coercion and positionality, not through representation, but through how a form is placed, divided, burdened and held under pressure in space.
Body as position, not figure
’40 Titles’ examines how identity and power become visible through positions rather than representation. Position does this by presenting a body that emerges from tension, form and collapse rather than anatomy.
Architecture as a structure of power
The former public‑urinal architecture functions as an existing structure of power. By dividing the body across two cubicles, the space itself becomes a mechanism of separation, control and restriction.
Temporality as pressure
The slow sagging makes power visible as something that not only positions, but also exhausts, burdens and ultimately causes collapse.
Contextual Origins - Thematic Continuity
The installation stemmed from the broader project 40 Titles, originally initiated under the title Made in China, which began with an installation of 90 kilograms of red clothing. That earlier work confronted issues of human trafficking, exploitative labor practices, and the uneven relationship between Western consumerism and global production chains. Within this context, Position I became a concentrated, site-specific continuation, positioning the human form as both symbol and symptom of the systems that render it vulnerable and commodified.
Position IV: Continuity and Evolution
Position IV extends the sculptural language and conceptual concerns first explored in Position I, continuing the investigation into power, fragmentation, and embodied vulnerability. Composed of red clothing arranged into suspended forms, the installation evolves over time through subtle material changes. For a full description and contextual background, see Position IV
Position II – Time-Pressured Video Body Performance
Position II is a video-based performance exploring the body as both agent and residue within a fixed temporal and spatial frame. Over the course of 69 recorded gestures, the artist positions herself on a black sofa, veiled by a red blanket, and reconfigures her form every ten seconds, triggered by a camera timer. Each frame captures a fleeting impression: a presence just vacated, a form partially concealed.
Created on the final day of an artist residency at the Chinese European Art Center (Xiamen, China), this work extends the Position series into performative time. It investigates control, repetition, and the psychological toll of endurance within constrained circumstances. Watch here: Position II – Video Performance
Position Panorama: Expanding the Frame - From Constraint to Cosmos
Position Panorama unfolds from the still images of Position II, transforming stills from the video performance, particularly those without the body, into a new visual and sonic domain. These images, extracted from a temporally constrained gesture-based work, are embedded within expansive Chinese ink paintings that evoke imagined, historical, and real landscapes. What began as a solo, durational act becomes part of a broader investigation into how the self relates to constructed systems: environmental, economic, cultural, and cosmic. This ongoing multimedia project expands the language of the Position series by weaving performance, painting, and sound into shifting fictional terrains. Here, absence takes on new presence, and the space between personal gesture and collective condition becomes a site for repositioning and imagining anew. Continue to Position Panorama
Position III - From Material Presence to Spatial Tension
Position III introduces a shift in material language within the series while retaining its conceptual integrity. Unlike earlier works, it omits red textiles and clothing, instead unfolding through performance and spatial construction. Though distinct in visual vocabulary, it continues to interrogate presence, control, and embodied constraint, this time through gesture, positioning, and site-responsive action. The absence of symbolic material invites a different form of tension, where the body's movement and relation to space carry the weight of the inquiry. It underscores how vulnerability can be articulated not only through material residue, but through sculptural absence and spatial pressure. Continue to Position III