The Lack / Lust Paradox

The Lack / Lust Paradox confronts paradoxical behavioral norms women are expected to inhabit. The project engages with the intimate and temporal interaction that occurs between a reader and a text. A kinetic slide-crank compresses sculptural paper forms, mimicking the binding confines of feminine identity. Intricately folded prints expand and contract as if breathing. When pressed tightly together, the paper’s edges gather to reveal tropes of purity and obedience. Upon expanding, feelings related to shame and stigma are exposed between sharply folded pleats. The sculpture fluctuates from one extreme to the other, suspended by the tension of the paradox.