Yana Schnitzler
Tales of a Phoenix: The Letting Go Project, 2020-ongoing
Variety of commercial fabric panels, lining, cotton, tailor form Currently 20 x 27 feet; growing
A visual art installation and durational performance, Tales of a Phoenix: The Letting Go Project harnesses the power of ritual to bring women together from across the world in a unified release of old patterns that no longer serve their personal growth. Over the past five years, women contributed pieces of fabric inscribed with their intentions what they wish to let go of. In a series of meditative performances, Schnitzler stitched these testimonies together into a room-filling skirt, representing the global collective feminine voice. With pieces from over sixty countries, the work creates a tapestry of personal stories from all walks of life and cultures, offering a glimpse of where women stand with the struggles they face. Currently an ongoing project, “Tales of a Phoenix: The Letting Go Project” will continue to tour and grow with each exhibition. Eventually, Schnitzler will wear the skirt in a ritualistic dance performance gathering the huge skirt around her, then publicly destroy it as a powerful metaphor for release and renewal, currently scheduled for fall 2025.
Yana Schnitzler
Water III, 2008
Spandex, human body in motion -
A site-specific performance installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. The spandex fabric serves as an amplifier of the gradually unfolding movement of the human body. Using an improvised movement quality that is based on deep listening to inner impulses, they ripple out into the fabric - creating a translation of the body’s subtle nuances into a textile expression. The fabric also serves as an (imperceivable) means of communication between the performers, resulting in a dialogue that reflects our interconnectedness with all things.
