Fragmented Ophelia

—2016—

This installation consists of a plaster sculpture and a video projection of a river on the wall. The sculpture represents Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet and takes as a starting point a famous work by the romantic painter John Everett Millais.

The shift from the painting towards the sculpture is achieved in parts which are arranged on the floor and convey the impression of a body floating in a river. Despite the material (and conceptual). fragmentation, viewers can assemble the pieces into a simultaneously familiar and intriguing image.

The aim of this work is to show how the mind integrates various aspects of perception and how scale and human reference can generate a more direct experience of body-world interactions.
This artwork is part of the interdisciplinary project Art & Embodiment in collaboration with neuroscientists of the Berlin School of Mind & Brain at Humboldt University, which aims to merge the realms of cognitive science, philosophy and art.