Doing and Undoing: Poems from within at Oboro (2020)

Overview

Hacer y Deshacer: Poems from Within (2019) is an interactive video installation. Most of the video sequences show Gelis’s mother undressing, one strand of yarn at a time, sometimes in Panama’s Casco Viejo (historic district), sometimes in the turbulent waters of the Pacific. Using her mother’s body, she tells the story of a cancer survivor, the story of countless others. Gelis invites us into the healing process: the viewer can change the order of the videos by pulling down reels of threads connected to electronic components concealed in the Priscilla sewing box. In doing so, the artist provides opportunities for healing collectively. She uses interventions in situ, video, super 8 and 16 mm film, threads and sculptural elements made with hair, and photography. As part of this process, she has facilitated artistic workshops at the oncology hospital working with women patients at the Oncology Hospital in Panama City.