Anna Oberfeld Competitive Scholarship 2013

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Approaching the Decay
Installation, September-December 2012

To me death means loss of self. When I die I fear that I will be trapped in an endless and dreamless sleep. I will no longer have memories or thoughts and will have no sense of identity or self. In years to come there will be no one left who will know who I was and it will be as if I had never existed.

My greatest fear however is that I will be trapped buried underground with complete darkness, no sense of feeling or hearing and just trapped alone in this vessel that once was my body and left with nothing but my own thoughts. This would be my own personal hell.

I decided to use to bed sheets to represent the endless slumber of death and dip them in plaster to represent my constant fear of being trapped alone in my body. I made the crown out of red poppies to represent death, black-eyed susan’s to represent my childhood, and babies breath for innocence. The photographs as well represent the constant fear of entrapment. This semester long project has been my way of personal therapy towards this enormous fear of the only thing in life that is certain; One day I will die.

Approaching the Decay

Installation, December 2012

Bed Sheets, Plaster, Synthetic Poppies, Synthetic Babies Breathm Synchetic Black Eyed Susans, Twigs, Fake Moss, Plastic and Ceramic Skulls, Apple, Pommegranite, Mannequin Heads, Wood shelves, Wood Stain, Wood Table, String, Chains, Loofa slices, Jars, and a Feather.