Morula is one of the early stages of gestation which pertains to most living creatures. The term, morula, derives from the Latin morus (mulberry) because of the cells' clustered structure.
Each organism undergoes a series of metamorphoses during its life cycle, returning to its origin in the end, dying, and being reborn as something new.
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Ohii's site-specific installation is a dark dive into instinctive desire and intense, even violent processes of metamorphosis.
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MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Patrizio Gentile
OHII KATYA
MORULA, 2022
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CURATED BY
STEFANIA PLAZA MORA
AT PIANO ZERO
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Site-specific installation, including sculptures, video, performance, and sound.
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Click here to listen to the sound
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SOUND DESIGN
MICHELE PAPA
DIRECTOR OF BALIA
FINN O’HANLON
1st ASSISTAND DIRECTOR
GABRIELLA TRULLI
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS:
OLEKSANDR RADOMSKYI
STEFANIA PLAZA MORA
TILDE KAY SNYDER
DAMIANO TATA
NIKA VARLAMOVA
FLAMINIA MAURA
FUNDED AND SUPPORTED BY
OLEKSANDR RADOMSKYI
AND STEFANIA PLAZA MORA
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BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Patrizio Gentile
In her first solo exhibition at the off-site temporary space Piano Zero, an ex-carpentry workshop, and grocery store, Katya Ohii explores the themes of transformation of an entity, linked to the ancient symbol of the Right-hand and Left-hand Path.
Ohii’s research delves into the left-hand path—fast, often brutal, and dangerous to the life and mental health of the individual.
In more recent definitions, based on the terms' origins in Indian Tantra, the Right-Hand Path and the Left-Hand Path adopt opposite attitudes but have the same goal in the end.
Opposed to the Right-hand Path, the Left-hand Path is often painful and abrupt, but most accessible and familiar for the majority in the ever-accelerating modern world.
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BALIA (video cut), directed by finn o'hanlon
MORULA occupied 64 square meters of space in total.
It consisted of eleven sculptural objects, one massive wooden structure, splashing out to the corridor, sound installation, video, and performance.​
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The exhibition path is circular.
The first room is filled with hybrid creatures in the process of formation.
Fluid and erotic, they are fetuses in the gestation phase with both artificial and organic features, uncanny and attractive simultaneously.
Here we find soft, nocturnal lighting to symbolize the darkness before birth.
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Then, we move forward to the massive 20-square-meter wooden structure—the installation MORULA that embodies the Path of the Right and Left hands, a fork between internal moral choices.
The fallen branches for MORULA were taken from three different forests in Rome and covered with caramel, constantly melting and transforming during the exhibition, accompanied by the sound design by Michele Papa, which was specially created for the MORULA installation.
At the end of the exposition, we meet the Mother—BALIA—the personification of the return to the origin.
The soft sculpture, made of metal wires, styrofoam rolls, and IV fluid solution bags filled with soy milk, hosted the performer inside its body.
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This performance, which took place during the exhibition week, resulted in a short film in collaboration with Australian artist and director Finn O’Hanlon.
The video work and performance BALIA acts to summarize the main conceptual essence of the exhibition. This work depicts the borderline state of an entity going through a metamorphosis, an intense and dangerous experience that causes the rapid evolution of consciousness.
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Text by Stefania Plaza Mora
BALIA (video still), directed by finn o'hanlon
BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Patrizio Gentile
BALIA (soft sculpture), 2022, IV fluid solution bags, soy milk, styrofoam rolls, metal wire, red light, PH Danielle Allegritti
BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Tilde Kay Snyder
MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Patrizio Gentile
BALIA (video still), directed by finn o'hanlon
BALIA (video still), directed by finn o'hanlon
BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Tilde Kay Snyder
BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Patrizio Gentile
BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Tilde Kay Snyder
BALIA (video still), directed by finn o'hanlon
BALIA (video still), directed by finn o'hanlon
BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Tilde Kay Snyder
BALIA (performance), took place during Ohii Katya’s solo show MORULA, 2022, PH Patrizio Gentile
MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
THE PET (sculpture, installation view), 2022, spine, carbonized sugar, metal wire, 50x35x20 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
BASTET (sculpture), 2021, metal armature, epoxy resin, pigment, plastic, lacquer, rope, 70x140x85 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
BASTET (sculpture), 2021, metal armature, epoxy resin, pigment, plastic, lacquer, rope, 70x140x85 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
BASTET (sculpture), 2021, metal armature, epoxy resin, pigment, plastic, lacquer, rope, 70x140x85 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
BASTET (sculpture), 2021, metal armature, epoxy resin, pigment, plastic, lacquer, rope, 70x140x85 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
KOLYSKA (sculpture, detail), 2022, beeswax, latex tubes, resin, tree root, dried flower, wooden dust, 50x55x67 cm, PH Patrizio Gentile
KOLYSKA (sculpture, detail), 2022, beeswax, latex tubes, resin, tree root, dried flower, wooden dust, 50x55x67 cm, PH Patrizio Gentile
THE PET (sculpture, installation view), 2022, spine, carbonized sugar, metal wire, 50x35x20 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
SANGUE DEL DRAGO (sculpture), 2022, tree root, burned sugar, 45x150x110cm,
PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
SANGUE DEL DRAGO (sculpture), 2022, tree root, burned sugar, 45x150x110cm,
PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
LA MORTE (sculpture), 2022, , silicone, pigments, glass spheres, papier-mâché, palm tree, wooden dust, bones, metal wire, epoxy glue, 65x50x100 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
LA MORTE (sculpture), 2022, , silicone, pigments, glass spheres, papier-mâché, palm tree, wooden dust, bones, metal wire, epoxy glue, 65x50x100 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
IL NUTRIMENTO (sculpture), 2022, , silicone, pigments, glass spheres, papier-mâché, palm tree, wooden dust, bones, metal wire, epoxy glue, 50x45x105 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
IL NUTRIMENTO (sculpture), 2022, , silicone, pigments, glass spheres, papier-mâché, palm tree, wooden dust, bones, metal wire, epoxy glue, 50x45x105 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
MORULA (installation, corridor), 2022, branches, metal wire, LED lights, 350x155x377 cm,
PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
MORULA (installation, corridor), 2022, branches, metal wire, LED lights, 350x155x377 cm,
PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
KOLYSKA III (sculpture), 2022, beeswax, liquid latex, latex tubes, machine oil, engine, tree branch, wooden dust, variable dimensions, PH Daniele Allegritti
KOLYSKA III (sculpture), 2022, beeswax, liquid latex, latex tubes, machine oil, engine, tree branch, wooden dust, variable dimensions, PH Daniele Allegritti
KOLYSKA (sculpture, detail), 2022, beeswax, latex tubes, resin, tree root, dried flower, wooden dust, 50x55x67 cm, PH Patrizio Gentile
KOLYSKA II (sculpture), 2022, silicone, pigments, latex tubes, latex elastic band, resin, lacquer, tree branch, wooden dust, 65x90x35 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
KOLYSKA II (sculpture), 2022, silicone, pigments, latex tubes, latex elastic band, resin, lacquer, tree branch, wooden dust, 65x90x35 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
PUPPY (sculpture), 2022, resin, latex tubes, black pigment, lacquer, wooden dust, 20x10x16 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
KOLYSKA (sculpture, detail), 2022, beeswax, latex tubes, resin, tree root, dried flower, wooden dust, 50x55x67 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
KOLYSKA II (sculpture), 2022, silicone, pigments, latex tubes, latex elastic band, resin, lacquer, tree branch, wooden dust, 65x90x35 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
KOLYSKA II (sculpture), 2022, silicone, pigments, latex tubes, latex elastic band, resin, lacquer, tree branch, wooden dust, 65x90x35 cm, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
MORULA (installation), 2022, branches, cork, burned sugar, metal wire, fabric, LED lights, 425x776x377 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
IL RISVEGLIO (sculpture), 2022, , silicone, pigments, glass spheres, papier-mâché, palm tree, wooden dust, bones, metal wire, epoxy glue, 55x20x25 cm, PH Daniele Allegritti
SANGUE DEL DRAGO I (sculpture), 2022, roots, burned sugar, metal chain, variable dimensions, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi
Copyright © 2022 Ohii Katya. All rights reserved.
SANGUE DEL DRAGO I (sculpture), 2022, roots, burned sugar, metal chain, variable dimensions, PH Oleksandr Radomskyi