Ear Twist (2024)
2-Channel installation, 4k, 16:9, loop, 11:27 min 

Performers: Loveday Smith as The Mother, and Hattie Wade as The Daughter.
DOP: Arianna Cavalensi, AD: Cristina Lavosi, Scores: Roc Montoriol, Styling Assistance: Clara Rojas,
Sound Recording & Mixing: Roc Montoriol, Lights: Lara Varat, Writing, Editing & Color: Carmen Dusmet,  Backstage photography: Cristina Lavosi. 

In my video installation Ear Twist (2024), I explore the intricacies of the mother-daughter relationship through a choreographed interplay of language, power, and shifting identities. The script is based on real conversations with my mother—who has frequently appeared in my past works—but this time, actors embody our exchange.

The video unfolds as a series of ten loosely structured vignettes, where the performers cycle through different emotional states and power dynamics. Their voices, at times calm, at times confrontational, mirror the unspoken tensions that shape familial bonds. Repetition and abrupt shifts in tone expose the instability of roles—who is in control, who is listening, and who is demanding to be heard.

Presented in a darkened space, the work amplifies the sense of isolation, as if the characters are trapped in a psychological loop, unable to reach true understanding. Gestures of tenderness are interrupted by moments of alienation, echoing the contradictions of intergenerational relationships. As authority figures and caretakers blur into one another, Ear Twist questions the ways trauma, fear, and longing are passed down, revealing how emotional legacies persist through speech, silence, and performance.

Produced during the MACA Film Residency in Amsterdam, 2023, and with additional support from the Creative Writing group at The Writer's Guide (to the Galaxy), Rotterdam. The research was supported by Mondriaan Fonds and Gemeente Den Haag.