This project was begun at the Château de la Napoule Canadian Artist Residency, April 2026. A group tour on one of the first days of the residency introduced us to the history of the château, including the founders, Henry and Marie Clews. They decided to be buried on the property in elaborate tombs, with doors wedged open--so their spirits could intermingle. I was immediately struck by the shape of the wedged space created by these slightly opened tomb doors, and the idea of something invisible being invited forth. The pull towards the wedged form, combined with my interest in where invisible queer histories might live in an environment like the château instigated this body of work: The Shape of Enter. I was curious about how the symbol and history of a castle would still hold, undoubtedly (although probably invisibly), queer, and other, minor histories and stories. Castles, queens, princesses, are all part of our archetypal understanding of power, hierarchy, gender, desire -- and in many ways they enforce a normative order. This work employs the same tools as fairytales, castles, and fantasy, but emerges with no damsels and no hetero love story. Instead, it points to an abiding curiosity about how to craft a history when one doesn’t exist in formal ways. What scrap of paper, what silence, what wedged open door holds a story of queer love that was not recorded? In this work, I proceeded to document the structures and objects in the château that were slightly open, that resisted closing when I tried. One of the first such shapes I found was the fireplace door in my studio. It was wedged, almost closed, at an angle. This site became inspiration for the finding of other locations of refusal, as well motivation to make my own shape in its image.
Using lumen prints (photographic materials exposed to sun and then fixed) the sculptural wedge shape became a ghostly instruction manual installed in vertical lines throughout her studio. In my other research at the château, I found 11 sites as potential entrance points for queer spirits, untold histories, and possibility.
Thank you to the David R. Graham Foundation, as well as the LNAF staff.
