For my thesis in fine arts I made an installation in my studio. The piece was comprised of a fragile papier-mâché and wire couch. With the slightest current of air the couch would sway. It was placed against a wall that referenced a school blackboard from a time when teachers made children write lines. The handwritten lines repeated the phrase to be without authority. A television monitor of my dog scratching into the snow in extremely cold weather played in a repetitious loop.
The concept for the work is that victim identity is defined by a lack of power and authority within oneself. This work was completed in 2005. Recently I have become aware that the emotional accompaniment to this mindset is fear. It is as if from the time of inner identification as a victim that a particular emotional key is set. It took decades and deep isolation to understand that I resonated in a particular range of emotion. I see emotions now like musical notes for concertos.