Artist and Community Gardener
Like a Rose:
I Withered and Died
Film Screening and Q&A.
22nd November 2022
Bermondsey Project Space, London, UK.
November 2022
‘The Voices Film Programme’, a series of screenings supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the national lottery.
‘The weight of an inherited web casts expectations of what it means to exist within the female body as someone who rejects the gender binary’.
Like a Rose I Withered and Died’ follows the journey of an anxious flamboyant spirit longing to be free from the constraints of hetero-normative standards of beauty, lust and desire. A ghostly re-imagining of the pain that comes with carrying the weight of societal projections of what it means to exist within these constraints .’
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Floor Five Collective: ‘This fibrous lime green web features centrally in your film. The film’s text explains that it “was gifted to me the day I was born” and that the film’s subject has “carried this web since I was given my name.” In the cloak of darkness, the subject leaves the cloak behind and dares to “dream of a time I’ll be free from this weight.” The web is figured as a gift given from birth, and despite its light materiality, can be perceived as a burden. Can you talk a bit about this notion of gift and burden?’
VC: ‘We often think of burdens as something that is emotionally, physically or spiritually hard to carry; a source of stress, worry and discomfort. In my film ‘Like a Rose: I Withered and Died’, I wanted to explore this notion of gift and burden by blurring the line between the two. You see, these feelings of discomfort and stress come to life when something doesn’t sit right with us and doesn’t feel too good. These feelings act as a flag to tell us that there is something we need or want to change in our lives and I believe this can be seen as the first step in releasing this weight. Being present with yourself enough to identify the problem and shine light on the root of pain is an act of self awareness which untimely can lead to self care. Now, this worry can make us feel distant in our own homes, our own bodies , making us feel isolated from the world outside of ourselves and feeling resentment towards those we might perceive as having an ‘easier time’. This can arise from body-dysphoria, personal trauma, trans generational trauma, struggles with one's own mental, physical and spiritual self. I’m interested in how we reclaim our bodies after going through this state of panic and discomfort, and how we move forward towards caring for ourselves and ultimately caring for the world around us. I think in this sense we can view the burden as a gift that gives us a reason to step out of our zone of comfort or in this case discomfort and reject whatever is weighing us down.’
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‘The weight of an inherited web casts expectations of what it means to exist within the female body as someone who rejects the gender binary’.
Like a Rose I Withered and Died’ follows the journey of an anxious flamboyant spirit longing to be free from the constraints of hetero-normative standards of beauty, lust and desire. A ghostly re-imagining of the pain that comes with carrying the weight of societal projections of what it means to exist within these constraints .’
Floor Five Collective: ‘This fibrous lime green web features centrally in your film. The film’s text explains that it “was gifted to me the day I was born” and that the film’s subject has “carried this web since I was given my name.” In the cloak of darkness, the subject leaves the cloak behind and dares to “dream of a time I’ll be free from this weight.” The web is figured as a gift given from birth, and despite its light materiality, can be perceived as a burden. Can you talk a bit about this notion of gift and burden?’
VC: ‘We often think of burdens as something that is emotionally, physically or spiritually hard to carry; a source of stress, worry and discomfort. In my film ‘Like a Rose: I Withered and Died’, I wanted to explore this notion of gift and burden by blurring the line between the two. You see, these feelings of discomfort and stress come to life when something doesn’t sit right with us and doesn’t feel too good. These feelings act as a flag to tell us that there is something we need or want to change in our lives and I believe this can be seen as the first step in releasing this weight. Being present with yourself enough to identify the problem and shine light on the root of pain is an act of self awareness which untimely can lead to self care. Now, this worry can make us feel distant in our own homes, our own bodies , making us feel isolated from the world outside of ourselves and feeling resentment towards those we might perceive as having an ‘easier time’. This can arise from body-dysphoria, personal trauma, trans generational trauma, struggles with one's own mental, physical and spiritual self. I’m interested in how we reclaim our bodies after going through this state of panic and discomfort, and how we move forward towards caring for ourselves and ultimately caring for the world around us. I think in this sense we can view the burden as a gift that gives us a reason to step out of our zone of comfort or in this case discomfort and reject whatever is weighing us down.’
