First attempt
Were we children? Or are we still? Clumsy movements and childlike behaviour led me to imagine the bathtub as a space of cleansing, one that can nevertheless be disrupted by persistent thoughts from the past. The bathroom becomes an intimate space in which everyday rituals can give rise to existential questions and draw us into a state of emotional vulnerability. I sought to connect this space with childhood - a period of imagination, uncertainty, and growth. Motifs of children’s clothing, toys, and simple, awkward movements therefore emerge throughout the works, gestures that often seem distant and unfamiliar to the adult observer. Gradually, I moved from child figures to the Willow Beings. They sit beside the bathtub with willow branches growing from their bodies. They have human faces and limbs, yet they seem out of place in the bathroom. They come from the outside, but cannot leave. The bathroom becomes a space between cleansing and being trapped. A place meant for purification can instead bring unwanted, melancholic, and even depressive thoughts. For me, this tension is at the heart of catharsis.
