Chrysalis is a four hour durational performance investigating the journey of holometabolism, also called a ‘complete metamorphosis’. Two conjoined bodies employ tape as a medium for transfiguration. Meticulously weaving a cocoon around them, they craft a home which binds them to eachother’s mutation; A symbiotic incubation. Throughout the performance, the cocoon becomes part of the landscape of the square, it grows on the lampposts and nestles on the benches like mycelium absorbing the forces of the city. The happening concludes with the performers dislodging from each other exiting the square in separate ways. What remains in the aftermath of their experience is a fossil of a surrendered armor, an exoskeleton preserving the remnants of their purged experiences.

The performance reflects on the intimacy of metamorphosis and the safety of the Chrysalis. Integration, and connection to its public becomes a direct extension of the performance itself as the audience is both a witness and a part of the evolving landscape. Situated in Cooper Triangle amidst the bustling streets of the East Village, the work commanded attention and elicited a spectrum of responses from onlookers, ranging from introspection to aggression.

Collaboration with Alaïa Photography by Anna Henderson Premiered at Access Arts NYC, Cooper Triangle, Manhattan, New York