Ho Maman!

This video extract is from a longer performance captured on an altered VHS tape and was produced as part of a Kino festival on the theme of mothers. In this performance, the artist explores the emotions linked to the absence of the maternal figure, depicting not a celebration of the beloved mother, but rather the cruelty of some mothers towards their children. The artist addresses themes such as the exclusion of a child from the home by his mother, the toxic and abusive relationship forcing the child to consciously break all ties with her, and also denounces heterosexist and cisgenderist family rejection as a Queer person. The artist highlights the profound repercussions of this abandonment on the mental health and identity of young LGBTQ+ adults, highlighting the additional challenges they face amid housing instability. Here, motherly absence is experienced as a specter, calling into question the glorification of the blood family despite its sometimes violent aspects. The artist expresses the dilemma felt when the mother pushes the limits of endurance, highlighting the social pressure that the child must endure by its peers, even when doing so is detrimental. The choice to break blood ties is presented as a difficult decision, accompanied by the weight of disapproving judgments and the sensation of breaking a taboo or status quo. The rejection of a heterocentric motherhood and family can be experienced as the haunting of a specter by a queer individual, as it leaves an indelible mark on the individual's emotional landscape, invoking feelings of loss, longing and a persistent desire for acceptance and belonging. This video is an ode to the supernatural inspired by the Earth, creativity, birth and sexuality, in which the artist found comfort and beauty. But also rawness and some sort of body horror.