The Prisoner
Ruth Ben-Ghiat – La Prigioniera/The Prisoner, 2018
Marina Sagona’s latest installation, “The Prisoner,” brings a new level of depth and intensity to her already powerful work. The sculptures, drawings, and audio piece show the scars on the psyche and body wrought by co-dependent relationships and their often abusivepsychological dynamics. The sculptures disturb and fascinate, repel and draw in the viewer – mimicking the “fatal” attractions we may have for others – while the blurred portrait fragments interact with the audio testimonies in communicating how such relationships make us lose sight of who we are and what we stand for.
Uncertainty of self and doubt in self are among the most devastating consequences of such relationships, as they can persist for years, buried deep in the body. The visceralityof the sculptures materialize the ominous and heavy weights we carry, which can even “fossilize” within us (as the artist perhaps suggests with her intestinal imprint), blocking the circulation of healthy emotions and energies that keep us open to the joys of life.
A thought-provoking multimedia rendering of an all too common emotional situation that shows the multiform talents of this courageous artist.
