AFTERIMAGE

When democratic structures erode, the first things to shift are the terms that sustain social spaces. They lose visibility, are replaced, reinterpreted, and pushed out of discourse.

Afterimage translates this into a visual field of resonance. The words are superimposed and transferred into the rhythmic logic of gesture. The semantic level falls away — color holds the trace as meaning slips away. The mark becomes a condensed field of color and resonance.

The words used are drawn from documented cases of administrative language regulation in the United States. Since 2017, and again from 2025 onward, terms from the fields of equality, science, health, gender, minority protection, and climate have been avoided, replaced, removed, or flagged for review in administrative contexts. Among them:

diversity, equity, inclusion, equality, gender, gender identity, transgender, trans, non-binary, LGBTQ, women, race, ethnicity, disability, vulnerable, underserved, underrepresented, environmental justice, climate crisis, evidence-based and science-based.

The work interweaves layering, fragment, and affect, opening an image space in which visibility and dissolution become perceptible at once.

Ongoing series since 2025