Heather Molecke—Don’t Look Now
From the artist: Don’t Look Now is a new large-scale installation based on the phenomenon of hysteria by artist Heather Molecke. This work examines, as well as questions, the thinking that normalized the incarceration of emotionally expressive, strong-willed women. She takes for her starting point the analyses of Jean-Martin Charcot and Sigmund Freud, however, she adopts a more personal and empathic approach in order to examine the relationship between a diagnosis of hysteria and personal histories of sexual trauma. In her work, she establishes associations between sexual abuse and the later onset of mental illness. Her installation will incorporate video and light projections, sound and kinetics, in addition to fabricated and assemblage sculpture. This formula of construction has proven to be a powerful means of conveying the emotionally charged subjects that she works with.
Don’t Look Now will be an installation that will be self-contained by fabricated walls made of lumber and foam insulation board. A texture will be added to the walls. Inside the space will be a rotating, life-sized female figure. The female figure will be covered in bandages made of cheesecloth and plaster. She will be elevated on a rotating stand that sits upon a ‘soap box’. The spinning female figure will be framed by red velvet curtains allowing the viewer to bring their gaze to bear on “her”. The installation will include video projections of women struggling to remove the restraints of a straitjacket. There will be a sound component that is audible in this space.
Heather Molecke has been chosen to present at the 12th Annual SculptureX Symposium in Pittsburgh, PA on September 18, 2021. Her presentation is based on her past and present work. She will have some elements of Don’t Look Now completed and photographed to include in her presentation, where The Satellite Fund will be acknowledged. Her art studio is located near downtown Cleveland and has regular hours open to the public. This installation will be accessible to a wide audience even before it will be officially exhibited. Don’t Look Now has also been invited to exhibit in Toronto, Canada in 2022. It will also be exhibited at The Galleries at CSU in the summer of 2022.