In Lilith’s Brood, a series of novels by Black American writer Octavia Butler, Butler points to the need for hierarchy and systemic social order as a genetic flaw of humankind; a flaw that would push humanity to the brink of extinction. In Butler’s trilogy, you meet the Oankali, an alien race that travels the universe collecting genetic material from all the various sentient lifeforms that they encounter, in order to expand their genetic makeup and introduce profound amounts of genetic variation into their gene pool. The Oankali save humankind from its own extinction, and the death of the planet, in exchange for humanity’s genetic assimilation, but not without some resistance from the survivors of Earth.

“Quantum Corpus” is an ongoing multidisciplinary series of sculpture and photography that explores the genetic potential of humanity and the social and political implications that come with post-human speculation. We are currently living in a moment in which what was once thought as speculative fiction is an everyday reality; gender reaffirming surgeries, designer babies, gene editing via CRISPR technology, the resurrection of extinct species, eugenics and the like are commonplace. Using Butler as a jumping point, “Quantum Corpus” speculates the use of quantum mechanics to program and manipulate the biological. However, looking to history we can almost predict the ways in which social hierarchy and all the -isms (racism, sexism, ableism, capitalism etc.) will obstruct innovation, for humanity has always had a love affair with the horrors of exploitation.

Quantum Corpus - Monochrome [2016-2020]
Archival Inkjet Prints

Pandemic Pigment Studies [2020-2022]
Polyvinyl Acetate, Polyvinyl Chloride, Dye, Polyurethane, Polystyrene, Stainless Steel