Submerged

“Submerged” (2021), handwritten text and handwoven textile, plain weave, linen, textile ink, 15 cm x various lengths from 6 – 30 meters. Installed at Amsterdam University Hospital, location AMC.

In my ear I have sleeping cells from long ago that were developed to listen to sound under water. I am also a fish, a sponge, a cell. I am many things and many times.

Submerged’ consists of several long pieces of textile, handwoven in plain weave. Some of the textiles have a text painted on that reflects on the evolution of our body. There are traces in our bones, genes, cells and sensory organs that points to our biological history. For example inactive receptors in the ear that were developed to listen to sound underwater. They are leftovers from a time when animals emigrated from water to a life on land. Our body carries traces from an unimaginably long time ago and from beings that were not human. I am a woman in the 21st century, but I am also partly fish. I am many things and many times.