Statement:

‘Infestation’ is about the obsession and desire for knowledge, information, rationality, and when it leads to compulsion and perfectionism. When saying ‘losing one’s self in their passion’ turns into reality, it becomes nauseating, dissociating. Having the need to know things, make sense of things, and keep things under control may be for comfort at first, but when it becomes everything that’s when it can go wrong, it gets to a point where we might be truly lost, infested and consumed by perfectionism.

This work for me has a personal and a public interpretation, both related to the idea of obsession and compulsion. Personally, this reflects the urges for perfectionism and obsessiveness I’ve experienced since I was young which only turned out to be OCD later in my life. Putting it in the context of art history and current society surrounding, I hope that it speaks to consumerism, the strive for perfection in a capitalist society, and the time and labour that goes behind everything we see. The ‘perfect’ image is also a reflection of our obsession with appearances in current times, whether it be obsession with how one presents oneself to others, or the images in the media that represents reality.