WE ARE NOT ALL THAT IS POSSIBLE (PORTRAITS)
We Are Not All That Is Possible (Portraits), 2022, 3-channel video, duration 39:57 min
We are not all that is possible. None of us ever has ever really experienced justice. None of us has known enough tenderness. June Jordan, “Outside Language”
What does it mean to be a woman or identify as a female today? How do we see ourselves in this world? Who gets to belong? What spaces make us uncomfortable? For this multi-channel video project artist Kirsten Leenaars invited current and former Saint Mary’s students to consider what a culture of belonging looks like and what this would mean to them? The womxn in this video share personal experiences with each other and offer the questions they hold within themselves. Through conversation and individual actions, the five young womxn occupy the screen and embody ideas of the self and the collective. Set against a black background that refuses a single context, the scenes question a historical, present and future sense of belonging. Given this space to be seen and heard, the young womxn command performances full of nuance and self-possession and frame what is (not yet) possible.
Direction: Kirsten Leenaars
Camera: Ellie Hall
Sound: Cody Wallace
Editing: Kirsten Leenaars
Participants: Breyona Gray, Mary Gring, Jacquelyn Junco, Sophia Sanchez, Stefanie Winnicki