In the myth of Pygmalion, a sculptor creates an idealised female figure who comes to life and becomes his beloved. PYGMALIA takes up and transforms this narrative, shifting the focus from the sculptor and his creation to the previously nameless female figure, whose growing awareness leads her to resist the role imposed on her. From a feminist perspective, the work challenges the sculptor’s narrative and his attempt to compensate for his own sense of lack.
The installation creates an immersive environment in which architecture, the human body, projections, sound, and language become part of a process of construction and transformation. A female voice reflects on the mechanisms through which identity is shaped and on the precarious relationship between individual agency and external expectations. As the carefully constructed environment gradually begins to resist its own logic, the work questions who or what determines the codes through which identity is formed.
Developed collaboratively with Philippe Mainz during our studies at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, with voice by Judith Florence Erhardt, PYGMALIA was presented as a diploma project and later became part of the group exhibition CIAO at KAMUNA. The work was supported by the Cultural Office of the City of Karlsruhe.
Photos: Magdalena Stateva, Evi Künstle
