Hosted at Tenuta dello Scompiglio in Lucca, Agnes Questionmark’s Nexaris Suite explores themes of power, resistance, and identity through the transformation of the “trans” body across species, gender, and human/non-human lines. Using surgical imagery and the gaze as metaphor, it examines control, liberation, and self-determination.
Within the exploration of themes tied to power, resistance, and identity, Agnes Questionmark’s Nexaris Suite at Tenuta dello Scompiglio in Lucca delves into the transformation of the “trans” body, a body in flux – moving across species, gender boundaries, and human/non-human categories – and the ways in which these transformations reveal broader philosophical and sociopolitical themes. Questionmark’s Nexaris Suite reframes this body as an interrogation point, exploring the boundaries between control and liberation through visually arresting metaphors and bodily representations.
EXPLORING POWER, RESISTANCE, AND IDENTITY IN AGNES QUESTIONMARK’S NEXARIS SUITE
At the heart of the exhibition – curated by Angel Moya Garcia – lies the homonymous installation, conceptually based on the symbolic re-examination of the gaze itself as a contested space, oscillating between domination and resistance. The surgical imagery and technological hybrids presented in Nexaris Suite act as critical metaphors, symbolizing both bodily manipulation and the potential for reclaiming agency through intentional observation and confrontation. This work prompts viewers to confront the ways the act of looking can both oppress and liberate – making this investigation an intimate, existential journey through surveillance, bodily autonomy, and self-determination.
RECLAIMING THE GAZE: DOMINATION AND LIBERATION IN NEXARIS SUITE
From Michel Foucault’s theories on surveillance to contemporary debates about digital oversight, the gaze embodies authority and control. Yet, when the gaze is returned, it becomes something else entirely: a challenge, an assertion of individuality, a rebellion. This duality – control versus liberation – stands at the heart of Questionmark’s work. The main piece draws from the artist’s experience of watching a surgical procedure, translating the clinical setting into a haunting tableau. A colossal, otherworldly figure lies at the center, its form a hybrid of organic and mechanical elements. Its lower body unfurls into a writhing mass of tentacles – symbols of both vulnerability and reach – while its face, human-like, remains exposed and central. This face anchors the viewer’s engagement, forcing a confrontation with its gaze.
EYES AS BATTLEGROUNDS: SYMBOLISM OF SURGICAL MANIPULATION IN NEXARIS SUITE
The operation underway is significant: the figure’s eyes are the focus of surgical manipulation. This detail is more than anatomical; it is symbolic. Eyes, often seen as the windows to the soul, here become battlegrounds for control and resistance. Questionmark forces us to consider the implications of altering the organ most closely associated with perception and self-awareness. If the eyes are manipulated, who owns the gaze? And what does it mean to see – or to be seen – on one’s own terms?
In this context, the immobilized figure resists complete subjugation. Its gaze, despite its prone position, meets that of the unseen surgeon, creating a power dynamic that defies traditional hierarchies. The act of looking back transforms the figure from object to agent, challenging the dominant narrative of submission. The eyes, no longer mere passive receptors, become tools of defiance – a declaration of autonomy against the intrusive authority symbolized by the surgeon.
CONTROL VS. LIBERATION: THE POWER OF RETURNING THE GAZE
Questionmark’s work also interrogates broader themes of control. The technological hybridization of bodies, the surveillance of individuals, and the medicalization of identity all emerge as critical undercurrents. Yet, the exhibition does not merely critique these forces; it imagines pathways of reclamation. The eyes, even as they are operated upon, retain the power to disrupt. The tentacled body, though confined, embodies potentiality—its reach extends far beyond its immediate constraints. Nexaris Suite ultimately asks us to reconsider the nature of identity in an age where boundaries blur and bodies transform. By positioning the transhuman figure as both vulnerable and powerful, Agnes Questionmark dismantles binary oppositions. The body is neither wholly controlled nor wholly free; it is a site of ongoing negotiation. Through its gaze, it asserts the possibility of resistance even in the most oppressive circumstances.
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