Maya Cohen-Miller
it is the sterile that implies the organic. why would these clinical, sterile settings exist if not for the threat of uncontrolled biology? white sheets and fluorescent lights become like a second home. and yet as i am left again, it is a home that i cry to come home to. i don’t understand why i am like this (i do). this parasite grew inside me and now it lives within my brain. even if i were to be dissected, i would leave this creature inside me. it is my goal, my final form. when i destruct my flesh-ridden body it is not just out of hatred, it is more complex. i long to be something else, i crave it with an intensity that makes me ache. i spin my web from the shiny trinkets that surround me. it is childish but i too am childish in this stunted malnourished brain. i build a nest for this fragile tower of organs and patchwork skin - and once more i become enclosed within a shimmering bubble of fear, hatred and care.
Maya Cohen-Miller, sanctuary (it drank liquid iron). Image Courtesy the University of Melbourne.
Maya Cohen-Miller, sanctuary (it drank liquid iron). Image Courtesy the University of Melbourne.
Maya Cohen-Miller, Chrysalis (it drank liquid iron) [detail], performance, zinc double roller-catches, wire, stainless steel cable ties, alligator clips, zinc plated star washers, press-studs, safety pins, letter clips, skin, 2023. Image taken by Lily Dietz.
Maya Cohen-Miller, Morphing (with love to Arachne), performance, zinc plated chains, neoprene, beads, paper clips, safety pins, earring hooks, wire, loom heddles, jump rings, nails, jewellery findings, screws, video, human teeth, 9minutes, 2023. Image taken by Rebecca Powell.
Maya Cohen-Miller, Ode to Koyaanisqatsi, performance, paper clips, safety pins, earring hooks, wire, loom heddles, jump rings, jewellery findings, jewellery chain, piercing studs, human teeth, 45minutes, 2023. Image taken by Rebecca Powell.
Faculty of Fine Arts and Music
University of Melbourne