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Gloryia Avgust (1993) explores the historical and ongoing framing of the female body. In her work, she combines feminist history, fiction and personal narratives, addressing themes such as gender, ancestry, the psychic and the erotic. Writing lies at the core of Avgust’s practice, which also encompasses performances, installations and sculptures.
The installation at Prospects builds on Avgust’s interest in the female voice as something historically coded as monstrous, disruptive or dangerous. Greek myths describe women whose wailing, cacophonous voices guide the dead to the underworld. Bulgarian folklore – Avgust has Bulgarian heritage – similarly ascribes malevolent and destabilizing powers to the female voice. Beyond myth, women’s voices have long been restricted in the performing arts, their speech and presence on the stage deemed ‘indecent’. By framing the mouth itself as a stage and the tongue as a site of rebellion, Avgust exposes the vulnerability and risk inherent in allowing the unknown to enter.
The ceramic sculpture in the installation is inspired by the organic form of the diaphragm and the tongue. The processes of kneading and firing the clay mirror the fragility of the voice. Enclosed by a curtain and placed on a reflective glass pedestal – glas means ‘voice’ in Bulgarian – the work invites reflection on the mouth as a stage.
Written by: Esther Darley