Dança do Afogado
Vik Shpetna
2025
This textile work explores the fine line between resistance and surrender. The central figure can be interpreted as both dancing and drowning, suspended between movement, panic, and the desire for freedom. Inspired by emotional exhaustion and the feeling of submersion, the piece reflects on the invisible pressures we carry while trying to stay afloat.
Through the texture of tufting and loose, trailing threads, I aimed for the work to convey instability and emotional weight. The threads break beyond the woven surface, like thoughts escaping confinement or a gesture reaching outwards. The bubble-like shape suggests mental confinement, while the surrounding linear texture evokes rain, atmospheric weight, and pressure.
I chose textiles for their immediate tactile honesty and their ability to simultaneously retain softness, tension, and vulnerability. I hope the public connects with the ambiguity of the figure and recognises something of their own experience within it.
This textile work explores the fine line between resistance and surrender. The central figure can be interpreted as both dancing and drowning, suspended between movement, panic, and the desire for freedom. Inspired by emotional exhaustion and the feeling of submersion, the piece reflects on the invisible pressures we carry while trying to stay afloat.
Through the texture of tufting and loose, trailing threads, I aimed for the work to convey instability and emotional weight. The threads break beyond the woven surface, like thoughts escaping confinement or a gesture reaching outwards. The bubble-like shape suggests mental confinement, while the surrounding linear texture evokes rain, atmospheric weight, and pressure.
I chose textiles for their immediate tactile honesty and their ability to simultaneously retain softness, tension, and vulnerability. I hope the public connects with the ambiguity of the figure and recognises something of their own experience within it.