Metamorphosis

Performer: Rosani Gomes
Local: UCS building
Duration: Phase 1: 20 min.
Phase 2: 22 min.
Total performance: 42 min.

For the first phase, Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece” performance, and Helio Oiticica inspired me to this work. In the Ono’s “Cut Piece”, she used herself body as an object of violence when the audience was invited to cut her clothes. And Oiticica’s “Parangolés, gave me the idea of carnival samba, the joy of people using the colourful capes.

From there I started to develop creating my performance involving the transformation of women in society.

Phase 1:

I bought a few pieces of clothing worn in Charity shop to join the performance.
This performance was experimentation and has been in the UCS dependencies, more accurately in the white room.

I invited my classmates, and my teacher David Baldry placed an advertisement in My UCS email for all to participate.

The piece took place with the audience of Teacher and some students . Then the audience was invited to take an active part in dressing me with pieces of clothes I had provided.

To my surprise, the participants just piled the clothes on my body, giving more meaning to the theme of the performance. Then I invited them to accompany me, walking the halls of the building up to the library.

For this first phase, my intention was to show how women still have double workday; with their responsibility to be mother, wife, housewife and working outside the home to help provide the costs of the family. The use of clothes was in the figurative sense.

Phases 2:

In this second phase, I worked with the joy and people’s freedom, showing the contrast between both performances. However, this does not mean that people have to feel free only at the carnival; it was only a figurative idea from the carnival.
In short, this performance was an awareness of the importance and freedom of women in society, as a form of knowledge of the role of women in civil and cultural society.

Soon after, I invited the audience to participate in the sequence of this performance. Then, in the dark room, I started to take off clothes that the audience have been deposited on my body. I went to another room and wore a clothes, which was inspired by the Brazilian carnival, and then I went back to the dark room. After that, I invited the audience to participate and dancing together on the rhythm samba of the carnival. I proposed to them to become loose and feel free through the dance.

I had another idea to work with canvas (A4 size) I did cover with a paper card and painted with blue colour acrylic. Then I spent plaster on, I let dried to reveal the colour underneath the plaster but, the result I did not like, because the colour appeared not as I would like, so I tried this technique just once.

However, I experienced with a different material as paper towel and did the same procedure with plaster and colour. Now I already liked the result, because I did not put the plaster directly on the colour, then I ripped the paper already dry plaster and the colour appeared as I expected, then I just accentuated later the red colour.

All this work was to support me for the performance with the use of plaster. I was looking for more originality and show how the transformation occurs.

For this still untitled frame, I bought in a Sharity Shop some of used clothes and I chose the size of two pieces of women’s clothing, with the size of the wooden base. I worked with the pieces by dipping them in a mixture of water, wood glue and plaster. After it dries I spent overcoating of pure wood glue  like finish for fixation and more durability. This was an experimentation a composition of different materials in the practice of my work.

For this still untitled frame, I bought in a Sharity Shop some of used clothes and I chose the size of two pieces of women’s clothing, with the size of the wooden base. I worked with the pieces by dipping them in a mixture of water, wood glue and plaster. After it dries I spent overcoating of pure wood glue  like finish for fixation and more durability. This was an experimentation a composition of different materials in the practice of my work.

About my canvas: clothing with plaster on canvas

I got this idea from my other tutor Sarah Jacques, she suggested me do work with plaster on clothes.
But on May 4, 2015, I had a tutorial with Jane Watt, and from that, I changed my mind as regard at my canvas with clothing and plaster, because I was not feeling accomplished with the result, it seemed that something was missing to complete this piece. So when my tutor Jane described how she felt seeing the canvas outcome and she asked me about if I leave wrapped in plaster would see like thing dead, stagnant, and this is not my goal. I need to give more life; then I decided to break the plaster that involved the piece of clothing with hammer bringing color inside to out by breaking the plaster. On this working, I worked with the metamorphosis, with the transformation of the piece.

This process of breaking, I did in my private studio in my house, and I worked with a lot of clothes as a range of scale.

When I thought about another performance with a dress as a bride, I was still in doubt about some issues involving this work, but even so, I decided to execute. Really my performance that were held in the school should look more professional, but I don’t know if because of nervousness, and laughter at times of presentation, it quite damage the piece, and also because I should have organized better, and on the time of execution I can’t say how the piece will be developed; this should be arranged in advance.
I had a conversation with my teachers Jane and David about my performances, which were of great value for me to reach my professionalism in performance. They both told me that I have many good ideas, but I need to put into practice, and on this last performance the idea was good, however, it must be carried out with professionalism. So I did again for my assessment.

Those pictures are in order such how I did my performance

On this work, I had a collaboration of three classmates and I have to thank you for the help of them: Rabab, Tricia and Carlos.
After the execution came the reflection. I really conclude that all artists transfer feeling to your art and that what happened with me, much of this performance was a bit of my life, about my background.

I see as follows: I came from a Catholic family where my mother raised me to be a good wife, mother and housewife dedicated. But over the years, people are changing their behaviour and way of thinking and often have action contrary to what has been learned as education.

Well, I had some problems in my life, something does not go as I imagined and how was idealised, and I had difficulties to accept the final result, so my suffering was far greater. On this performance I think that sums up some of my life. The use of the wedding dress represents a change on life and being covered in plaster represented the protection and education received from my mother and breaking the plaster means the changing in every respect like freedom and a new rebirth for a new way of life.
For this reason, I gave the title for this metamorphosis of “REBORN”.

I started my interest in art from an early age, however, I felt that something was missing and I wanted to find out more.

During my three years of study, the main focus of my art has become performance. However, my practice also includes painting,
printmaking, drawing, sculpture, installation, and lens-based media. This allows me to create a visual response and to raise awareness of the economic and political socio-cultural issues that permeate the world.
What led me to base my practice on performance art was the desire to explore the relationships between people and raise awareness about domestic violence. Within this practice, I have developed different themed performances, such as Identity, awareness; domestic violence; metamorphosis; and public Interaction.

Self – portraits form part of my painting practice. I use strong, vibrant colors in my works this is the influence of living in the warm climate of Brazil. In most of my performances, I also make use of my body.

My space in the studio practice – UCS