A lightweight frame, a hand sewn shell made from mom’s medical paraphernalia protects the fleshy body beneath. Baby oil soaks stockings at the knees, elbows and tops of feet. Choreography of snail dances executed through movement across my living room floor. Through movement there is connection to the somatic resonance of the intergenerational cancer experience, a connection to care, tapping into the mechanization of the body, into resilience? In the vessel of a snail, the complexity, intricacy and delicacy of the diseased body bubble to the surface. As snails move across my body, I am velcro. I learned about this body from taking care of my mother through her experience with cancer, and she learned about hers in the same. Learning to crawl with trauma before I can walk with her. Empathetic Bloat. Performance is the goal, this body, the result.

Granddaughter of Karen and Gabrielle, daughter of Sandra, sister to Kia. In service to snails and systems of management. In service to care, time, my mother’s cancer and my BRCA 2 gene mutation. In service to acknowledging imprints of trauma that surface in the body by inhabiting the vessel of a snail. Canadian born, recently completed a Master in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, Toronto based for the time being.