‘Is it That I Cannot See Myself?’ derives from an extract of Iris Marion Young’s ‘On Female Body Experience’: ‘Is it that I cannot see myself without seeing myself being seen?’ This ongoing project questions the allocated position of the female in today’s society and how this affects her personal sense of belonging. The burden of the body manifests itself as an experience of imprisonment, the mind desiring to exist autonomously but feeling trapped in a body that seems alien. Sequences of gestural oddity emerge from the quest to find the perfect articulation, a way to express oneself and make sense of a body that feels alien, whilst being watched at all times.
"A sense of ritual and relationship to space is seen in Alice Cooke's work, exploring the way in which a sense of belonging within a space is rooted in gendered differences. In her work, a strong awareness of the feminine body is put forward, as a shell formed by expectations and pressures of the outside world, a process fostering feelings of alienation and estrangement. What does it mean to take up space within the world? Displacement and disappearance colour her approach to the body, considering the way in which women are made to perform femininity and a defined acceptable presence within the space. The landscapes represent those of the artist's birthplace, Cornwall, returning to the roots of a sense of belonging, home and newfound intimacy with a displaced body. In doing so, a subtle and intense dialogue forms between the body and the land, both elements of the other's presence, blurring boundaries and creating new spiritual and non-human connections. The mind transcends a physical shell in order to converse with the landscape in order to find itself rooted within the world again." - Claire Mead, independent curator
