ARTISTS
Lilia Ana: To Remain Awake
The other night I woke up in a cold sweat, feeling a crushing sensation in my chest; in my dream, everything collapsed and objects went flying.
This morning, I鈥檓 staring at a piece mirroring my subconscious; this woman succumbed to daily items. Lilia Ana鈥檚 exhibition 鈥淭o Remain Awake鈥� construes an internal world that has its toe over the line of external submission.
It鈥檚 hard to reconcile anything, prompting us to reflect inward. My brain spoons my body in an attempt for revelation to seek refuge. I tug at my eyelids trying to atone before I can make peace with this internalized scrimmage.
There鈥檚 this retractable knife I keep in my pocket, sometimes hoping it protrudes and slices into me, while also praying it doesn鈥檛. Self-preservation looks different in many ways. Ana describes this sentiment of 鈥榪uiet restraint鈥�, while also explaining that these works beckon attention rather than surrender to circumstance.
All women remember their first time wearing 鈥榖ig girl shoes,鈥� how I put it, and staring back at bleeding ankles and toes that pour into the soles we鈥檙e treading. It鈥檚 all ridiculous, maybe obscene.
When I opened my eyes this morning, I did so slowly. I wanted to stay in a dream and basked in the darkness behind my eyelids. My introspection gave way to admission of the unchangeable, the unmovable, but also internal movement like a current or a riptide.
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The other night I woke up in a cold sweat, feeling a crushing sensation in my chest; in my dream, everything collapsed and objects went flying.
This morning, I鈥檓 staring at a piece mirroring my subconscious; this woman succumbed to daily items. Lilia Ana鈥檚 exhibition 鈥淭o Remain Awake鈥� construes an internal world that has its toe over the line of external submission.
It鈥檚 hard to reconcile anything, prompting us to reflect inward. My brain spoons my body in an attempt for revelation to seek refuge. I tug at my eyelids trying to atone before I can make peace with this internalized scrimmage.
There鈥檚 this retractable knife I keep in my pocket, sometimes hoping it protrudes and slices into me, while also praying it doesn鈥檛. Self-preservation looks different in many ways. Ana describes this sentiment of 鈥榪uiet restraint鈥�, while also explaining that these works beckon attention rather than surrender to circumstance.
All women remember their first time wearing 鈥榖ig girl shoes,鈥� how I put it, and staring back at bleeding ankles and toes that pour into the soles we鈥檙e treading. It鈥檚 all ridiculous, maybe obscene.
When I opened my eyes this morning, I did so slowly. I wanted to stay in a dream and basked in the darkness behind my eyelids. My introspection gave way to admission of the unchangeable, the unmovable, but also internal movement like a current or a riptide.
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