There is usually a strong gender divide; women participate, while men prefer not to touch
Highlighted by Najmabadi, the role of mirrors in Qajar art suggestively asserts the viewer to assume a participatory role. As the figures in the paintings from this period possess strong outward gazes, mirrors in the image are positioned such that they implicate the viewer, inviting them to be “an accomplice in the pleasures…engaged in the production and circulation of desire inside and outside of the visual text.” Merci takes this notion a step further, encouraging viewers to touch her work. This stems in part from her own inclinations to do the same in the gallery space, but also her desire that they sense her presence in the object; connect to the essence of her soul she’s imbued in the piece. She’s also intrigued by which viewers accept this invitation and which ones don’t, noting there is usually a strong gender divide; women participate, while men prefer not to touch, even when given permission to do so.
The presumed dichotomy of natural vs unnatural/artificial is questioned and agitated in a liminal, otherworldly space
Each medium provides a different experience for Merci—her textural painting style, one of her earlier techniques, is the form she feels most comfortable in reproducing, and represents her conscious self. Citing the documentary style of Nan Goldin as an influence, painting is where she’s able to chronicle the queer community, whether it be people from her personal life or those she finds via social media. Animation, as seen on display in the exhibit’s video installation, “Limbo,”allows her to create atmospheres and environments unavailable to her in other mediums. Central to her work is the disassembling of false binaries; the presumed dichotomy of natural vs unnatural/artificial is questioned and agitated in a liminal, otherworldly space. A disembodied head appearing in varied simulated environs, represents her own psychological journey, as well as the physical one she takes as an immigrant.
Sculpture is where she is at her most experimental—a place to play
If painting and animation are more assured mediums for Merci at this stage of her career, sculpture is where she is at her most experimental—a place to play. Visibly influenced by David Altmejd’s surrealist fusion of the seductive and the macabre, she breaks apart and reforms the body, using a breathtaking array of elements. Unleashing herself into a heady mix of fantasy, masque and kitsch, Merci transforms readily accessible materials, bedazzling mannequin heads and torsos, adding technicolour wigs, brightly coloured nails, fishnet stockings, and false eyelashes to dizzying effect. One of her more personal pieces is a disembodied head mounted on a plastic column, blinded by the words “SOMETHING IS MISSING.” This is a nod to her earlier work, when she focused on sexuality and genitalia, consciously unaware of her body’s deeper knowing.
She believes the buried catalyst will be revealed at a later time, long after the work is complete
Having lived so much of her life in the dark, due to the exclusion of queer voices when she was growing up, Merci describes this existence as one of “depression, stress, and trauma.” It’s no wonder she has an abiding interest in the field of psychology, and has more recently engaged with the work of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. When asked about the recurrent act of deconstructing and reconstituting the body in her work, Merci confesses she hasn’t found the answer yet. She believes the buried catalyst will be revealed at a later time, long after the work is complete. Perhaps it is fitting, as an embodiment of Lacan’s theory of jouissance, she continues on this journey into the unknown, as a willing channel of the abundant chaotic stream that is her sub/consciousness.