My proposal for a context-specific project at Borderlands Residences at Ludwig Forum Aachen is to create a series of paintings that emphasise their response to the borders and divert their focus from the centre. Painting is a fluid studio-bound practice where “project” could be seen as setting oneself a task, adding another conceptual layer on top of established practice.

I would like to eliminate the gaps between the paintings and gather them into a single space. The result could be a set of paintings or a polyptych made up of smaller parts, merging those possible views described above. A painting becomes a map or a mesh, where the borders do not divide but hold parts together. This notion of borders (in painting, formal, social) has already been on my mind and at the studio: I include three examples of existing works that form diptychs but can be viewed individually. The opportunity to work in the residency at Ludwig Forum Aachen would give me a chance to explore it further, while being physically in that borderland.

“What if ... instead of saying, this border divides these places. We said, this border unites these places. This border holds together these two really interesting different places. What if we declared border crossings places where, listen, when you crossed them, you yourself became doubly possible.”

― Ali Smith, Spring, 2019