Frida Kahlo, Aung San Suu Kyi, Madonna, Elizabeth I, Judith. The heads of “strong women” from history are being stacked like a totem pole in this video. The artist appearing in a goddess-like form places the heads on the top of the pole, trying to balance them so that the tower does not collapse. From somewhere a divine voice calls the next name, and the artist kicks up to place the next woman’s head on the pole. The divine voice is actually the artist’s mother’s voice that has been digitally altered.
This work was based on the artist’s own family background in which he was raised by a doting, feminist mother. In the personal myth that he creates, he attempts to visualize a unity with his strong mother’s image.
