In LiveWire, Celia de Villiers investigated the human body as a site of subjection, agency and post-modern identity politics. The props of physical adornment and masquerade perform the fears, hopes and mysteries of the body — with one breath speaking of the performance artist’s existential quest, with the next of gothic horror, bizarre ritual and the abject human yearning for transcendence.

Researching her Master’s, de Villiers concluded that Gothic and Baroque aesthetics re-emerge during periods of cultural stress, communicating anxieties about social transformation. As gene science forces its way into daily life, popular entertainment grapples with neo-Gothic zombies and the perfect post-human clone. Her ‘LiveWires’ — shamans, fetish practitioners and performance artists — remove the safety nets, breaking convention to express suppressed pain.

Drawing on Marina Abramović, Matthew Barney, Steven Cohen and Madonna, the exhibition’s works in glass, resin, vinyl, digital print and video disclose how contemporary artists challenge conformity by working across media, desiring different identities in the attempt to maintain a cohesive self.