Curated by Nadia Tahoun and debuting at Spring/Break 2024 in NYC, “Without Me There Is No You” features work by Christina Welzer and explores the relationship between what is felt but not seen, giving weight and form to the intersection of solid material and light. Welzer’s work serves as a visible expression of internal conflicts and suppressed emotions. Through her delicately crafted pieces, she unveils the hidden narratives of rage, fear, and resilience that often lie beneath a serene surface. As Jun’ichirō Tanizaki reflects in In Praise of Shadows, “We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates.” Welzer’s new body of work utilizes shadows, light, and space to showcase the delicate balance between the internal and the external, dreams and reality, good and bad, and past and present, while conceptualizing how these dichotomies can exist in the same space all at once.

“Without Me There Is No You” specifically focuses on the female perspective, seeking to depict the way in which so many women move through the world with stillness painted on their faces while waves clash just a few inches below the surface of their skin. The project features a series of ghostly tableaus depicting hanging female figures entangled by puppet strings and haunted by shadowy creatures. The installation invites viewers to experience each work from different angles. What may appear as an indistinct shadow from one perspective is a completely fleshed-out character from another. By subverting expectations of front and back, the work casts doubt on which side is more real and poses the question: Why do we have to choose?

In a culture that relies so heavily on presenting and preserving a polite front, “Without Me There Is No You” asks, “What would it look like if we could visibly see the histories of trauma that generations of women have been forced to quietly swallow?” The project also invites viewers to formally acknowledge the strength it takes to carry these invisible weights and serves as a reminder that still waters often run the deepest.