- 14 Oct 2023 3 am UTC
- dur 3 min
Yes, You Can Have a Slice of Cake is a continuation of the Scroll Narrative series which includes: Can I Come With You? and You Can’t Hot Glue Your Cat Back Together. The scroll narratives have been presented both in a gallery setting, as well as a traveling piece in various cities throughout the Pacific Northwest. In these performances, I obscure my face with a fantastical mask and take on the role of storyteller. Relying on one of the oldest forms of recording story, and also referencing the frame by frame quality of film, I utilize an illustrated scroll to present a narrative. These are original stories that rely on a fairytale like format. The audio component of each story is prerecorded, and read by me with voice distortion and other sound effects. The story plays in conjunction with my slow movements and progression from image to image, like presenting a child\’s picture book. In this way, I am both facilitating and witnessing the story unfold in real time with my viewer. Direct eye contact and mutual voyeurism evokes quiet intimacy. Yes, You Can Have a Slice of Cake is a scroll narrative performance comprised of monotype prints depicting paper puppets. The story is one of humor and slight anxiety wherein a paper cat discovers that they too can in fact have a slice of cake.
Qarthian is an interdisciplinary artist who works with themes of storytelling, the absurd, and materiality. She creates narrative and explores relationships with recurring characters, or figures, through puppetry, ephemeral performance, and site-specific installation. With these modalities, she cultivates intimacy between human and non-human entities. Qarthian has presented her studio based research in puppetry and performance art at the College Art Associate of America, Chicago 2020. In addition, she has performed with Performance Art Oslo, Palouse Performance Week Showcase at Washington State University, and the Southern Oregon University Fringe Festival. Qarthian is currently a community arts educator for the City of Medford and Southern Oregon University printmaking faculty.