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Sleepwalker

Stenersen Museum

2004

Room installation, gray walls with drawings in black acrylic paint, silhouettes in gray acrylic paint, ink and print on watercolor paper, and drawing / collage created in Photoshop, printed on photo paper, mounted on aluminum sheets.
Work runs over 5 walls in a room without windows

I run the thin, soft fabric of the curtains through my fingers, and rearrange the folds again. It is growing dark outside, and I turn on the lights. I touch the curtains three more times, and rearrange the cushions on the couch.

I walk into the bathroom. Here there are no windows. The door is the only way out. The lights around the mirror are dim, but a quick glance at my reflection reveals a face more tired than I expected.

 

To avoid looking myself in the eye for long, I remove my nail varnish instead.

There are fresh sheets on the bed; I undress and lie down, totally exhausted, but unable to sleep. I touch the velvet of the pillow, and the fur of the luxurious bedspread and let my thoughts drift. Who needs focus anyway?

 

Sometimes I find myself walking through a dense forest on my way to or from a big party. It is very quiet. I start running - I need to get away from my body, as quickly as possible.

One dark path bleeds into the next. I search for a likely place—a private place—to stop. I’m running so fast I can hardly hear anything above the sound of my feet striking the earth and the blood pounding in my ears.

I feel myself falling asleep.

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