Original artwork description:

144x64 cm | Filler, oak frame, oak bars

The oak bars should be installed aligned with the bottom of the frame at 15mm distance from the edges.

As the title implies, this work shows a game of Hangman. The oak bars on the sides signify missing letters. There are several possible solutions, but it's one that is of particular interest. Life is a journey from the cradle to the grave, and in between, we eat and play.

In therapy, finding the hidden truth means formulating the words to express repressed trauma or emotions. This process is very much connected to the body. Thus, language and matter are profoundly related. Yet, words have no intrinsic relation to what they signify; the gap is unbridgeable. The two dimensions are forever divided. It is not the words themselves that hold the key. It is the use of language that might be healing - the mapping of the uncharted terrain that is our subconscious. But it must be allowed to ask that even if this colonisation of language into our psyche might relieve strain and anxiety, does it necessarily provide meaning and happiness? Using language is a tool for communication with others and with ourselves and thus brings us closer, but it might be argued that it creates the very divide we desire to bridge.

Materials used:

Filler (coarse and fine) in oak frame

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