Fearless Contact

Claire Wright

Fearless Contact is a three part video installation that documents experimental performance works completed during the 2020/2021 school year. Each piece involves engaged physical action, using the body as a canvas and sculptural tool in order to communicate. There is an emphasis on line and gesture, with emerging connections to consciousness, catharsis, touch,  the body, vulnerability, and memory. These performances are a release of fear and shame, and an invitation to engage with the awareness of the self in a healing space. There is an allowance for whatever happens to come out of a session, sort of like artistic improvisation. 

Title piece Fearless Contact is the first of the experimental series, and sparked further investigation into vulnerability and reconciliation with the body. It was inspired by the desire for visceral pleasure while experiencing prolonged isolation, and a return to childlike play and freedom. The second work in the series titled Painbody is a reflection on the artists experience with chronic pain, which is documented directly on the body’s landscape. Varied gestural applications of the material and colors mirror the cellular memory of pain. Here she also explores various video editing techniques of layering and color adjustment. The final piece Infinity Noodle continues the exploration of bodily pain and vulnerability, using repetitive gestures to engage and highlight excruciating experiences of disordered eating and restriction.

More work can be found at www.clairestewartwright.ca