Awakening identities

Annabelle Moison's works are abstract translations of substantial reflections on the tension between identity and anonymity—both in terms of self-imposed invisibility, for example in the internet, and in relation to imposed namelessness, like by authoritarian institutions. She does not remain in the realm of the general, but engages with specific historical events. In her current series Fallen Women, she traces the dehumanizing mechanisms of the Magdalene laundries, so-called »reformatories for fallen women,« which often divided their residents into categories such as special, mediocre, and despised and assigned them numbers instead of names. Moison translates this clear attempt at uniformity into grid-like systems in which supposedly identical rhombi are arranged in a fixed pattern, but not only do they show individual variations within this grid, they also break the prescribed pattern multiple times and literally step out of line—an escape from uniform anonymity that forms and expresses their own unique identity. A highly topical issue - in order to find real-life parallels for the tension between order and individual freedom, between conformity and identity, as formulated by Moison, we do not need to look back to the era of reformatories; it is enough to follow our contemporary discussions at home and abroad.

Born in the Netherlands, Moisen has been living and working in Luxembourg for several years. She completed her formal education in Amsterdam, where she first studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and then at the Jewellery Department, earning two degrees in design and art. Her work is always preceded by intensive research into scientific aspects and historical references as she explores questions such as: What happens when stories are suppressed and remain untold? Does self-identity need visibility, or does it also exist in the hidden realm? How does our self-staged online personality affect our own identity? She translates her observations into an abstract visual language, which she composes with the help of various materials such as fabrics, pigments, and stitching. The result is a body of work as complex as the phenomena Moison explores.

More about the artist: Annabelle Moison's artist page