Tracing the Ocean

‘Tracing the Ocean’ is a body of work consisting of a video, window drawings and ceramics.

HD video, colour, sound, 7’54”

In the video work ‘tracing the ocean with your hands’ a pair of hands are making ‘marine life hand signals’*: The turtle's flippers are rotating thumbs of the clasped hands, the tail of the stingray a waggling index-finger. The narration moves between instructions on the movement and composition of the signals, and personal memories of the pair of hands that are seen in the video. How can we remember and understand the ocean with our hands and through gestures?

The work is part of the artists ongoing research about signals and gestures in which our non-verbal language to communicate and relate with the world around us is explored. 

*Marine life hand signals are used underwater to communicate the sighting of animals. Most commonly the hand signals mimic the animal’s appearance, its movement or sometimes resemble the animal's namesake. They are used internationally by divers and marine biologists around the world.