Photo credits Andrej Vasilenko
The materials of Ella Jo Skinner’s multisensory installation HGMITR contain wool, yarn, string, smoke, frankincense, objects and animal remains retrieved from a gopnik (chav) in Latvia, rat corpse preserved in resin, wax, plaster, silicone, resin, glucose, dirt, ink, religious paraphernalia obtained from a church in Tallinn, acrylic, industrial paint, and hand altered prints of a historical painting sourced from Poland. Conceived for 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈, 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓇𝓊𝓅𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈, the final show of the 11th edition of Rupert’s Alternative Education Programme, the work reflects on the correlation between a loss of grand narratives in today’s society and the public tendency to turn to conspiracy, the relationship between the visible and hidden through technology and the site of churches, and young women’s obsession with the aestheticization of their own suffering.
‘Sometimes, the girl snapped her phone off and looked at the sky. As she looked at the sky, she thought it to be the dull whites of the eyes of some ethereal dictator. Some dictator who wanted to see her squirm, who let her imprison herself. Torturing her with broken promises about the state of the cosmos. She drew a conclusion, one night on her phone, that if she had been around when humans existed in tribes, she would have been a wise woman or a priestess. She would have been raped and burnt at the stake for her wisdom. She cursed the sky. Convinced it had a consciousness she would fall back to sleep.’
Ella Jo Skinner (UK) is a Welsh visual artist who creates visceral, sensational experiences. Her provocative and bodily installations merge different disciplines to achieve an art form that engages all senses and provokes primal reactions within her audiences. She is interested in using art as a transformative experience to explore uncomfortable issues within the contemporary age.
Premiere: Rupert, 2023 (LT)
Part of Re-Imagine Europe – New Perspectives for Action. Co-funded by the European Union.
This work is available for touring.
For further enquiries, contact: info@rupert.lt
