Hershman Leeson asks, “Where does performance begin and ordinary life give way? Or is all of life a performance?” Here Hershman Leeson chronicles the artist’s life as she speaks into the camera about trauma, anxieties, and obsessions. The story that unfolds over the course of the four-part work is an honest, intimate view into Hershman Leeson’s experiences. Yet the film also demonstrates the gap between the artist’s real and virtual selves, and her struggle with authenticity as she tapes her innermost thoughts. Sometimes she cuts, multiplies, and mirrors her own image, documenting the struggle to articulate her identity in a video meant to be broadcast to the public.
Gallery label from 2019