The very essence of romance is uncertainty
Over recent years, desire, that tentative dance between recognition and idealism, has preoccupied the work of Monica Tichacek. Her installations and performances examine stereotypical signs of ‘feminine’ sexuality pushed to extremes. Drag is her modus operandi, which she employs to explore same-sex desire while complicating the codes of mainstream (hetero)sexuality. In her work she positions herself as both the desiring and desirable subject, constructing her identity as a multitude of signs always in the process of becoming.
Tichacek flirts with the spectacle of sexuality. Her alternate take on drag confuses the limits of identity by courting desire through symbols of femininity conventionally staged for the male gaze. In her performances she usurps the traditional vantage of the male gaze—which seeks erotic pleasure from the spectacle of the female body—while simultaneously embodying the feminine tropes that attract this attention. Tichacek figures herself as both voyeur and the knowing object of voyeuristic fantasy, the projection and reflection of an idealised self. By representing herself in the act of looking back at her own image she sets up a loop of narcissistic desire, which she then slowly distorts during the course of her performances and exhibitions.
Using her body as the sight/site upon which the language of desire is played out to the point of incoherence, she pierces, pulls, and contorts her flesh into signs of feminine allure that fall apart in their overzealous attempts at conformity. Her one to two hour performances are staged as tableaux vivants. Surgical clips or needles are inserted into her flesh, serving as anchors for strands of string that firmly pull the body into cosmetic submission, holding it hostage to the space it inhabits. By... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline