“Retreat: Rose Ritual” is an interactive healing passage that uses
crushed velvet, dyed wool, faux fur, pigment and oil, massage chair, inflatables, and screens.
Displayed at Gråmølna Art Museum of Trondheim as part of the MFA graduation exhibition “Bridges are Burning,” May 4th to May 26th, 2019. Photos courtesy of Lily Zaneta and the artist.
(Whispered)
Now come with me on a walk through what you thought were your dreams. Resting in your back muscles is long forgotten trauma. You find things to rub up on, a self-massage, but it seems perverted. Is it wrong to seek healing from inanimate objects, to seek relief from the non-human? You can’t even hug a tree without feeling self-conscious. You resist the temptation because of the social taboo of publicly seeking pleasure from something other than human.
Mika Haykowsky 