Saviya Lopes
The Footnote, 2024
11.7 x 19.5 in
Reserved
The work employs illegibility and scribbled text as a deliberate strategy to explore the complexities of emotional labour and the tension between confession and concealment. The scribbles act as a...
The work employs illegibility and scribbled text as a deliberate strategy to explore the complexities of emotional labour and the tension between confession and concealment. The scribbles act as a protective layer, a defence mechanism that complicates the viewer's access to the confession, hinting at the inherent violence that might come with such exposure.
The tension between visibility and invisibility in the work illustrates the complexities of emotional labour. By making the act of writing difficult to read, the work emphasizes the internalised forms of violence that people, especially marginalised individuals, experience when they attempt to express their feelings or resist oppressive structures. The scribbles are both an invitation and a barrier, drawing the viewer into a personal space while simultaneously holding them at a distance.
“The Footnote” critiques the systemic violence imposed by societal expectations, which demands emotional and artistic labour but often erases or commodifies it.
The tension between visibility and invisibility in the work illustrates the complexities of emotional labour. By making the act of writing difficult to read, the work emphasizes the internalised forms of violence that people, especially marginalised individuals, experience when they attempt to express their feelings or resist oppressive structures. The scribbles are both an invitation and a barrier, drawing the viewer into a personal space while simultaneously holding them at a distance.
“The Footnote” critiques the systemic violence imposed by societal expectations, which demands emotional and artistic labour but often erases or commodifies it.