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MAI-THU PERRET

*1976, lebt und arbeitet in Genf

*1976, born in Geneva, lives and works in Geneva, Switzerland

Citing influences such as utopian feminist literature, art theory, Russian Constructivism, and the Arts & Crafts movement, Mai-Thu Perret’s diverse body of work encompasses sculpture, painting, video, and installation. Since 1999, Perret has worked on a series called “The Crystal Frontier,” which documents her participation in a women’s commune based in New Mexico. Through diary entries, abstract paintings, and artisanal objects, Perret constructs a piecemeal narrative describing life at the commune. By focusing on the fragment as a narrative device, Perret invokes the pastiche technique employed in postmodern literature and demonstrates her interest in the structure of language. Her relationship with language and narrative is epitomized in text works such as Society is a Hole (2009), in which ambiguous musings are spelled out in bright pink lettering, inviting the viewer to fill in the gaps in the implied narrative.