Head On My Dear

Head On My Dear explores the evocative power of archaic imagery and mythology, delving into how such visual and narrative elements can activate our subconscious, fostering a meditative and introspective state of mind. The work draws inspiration from the ancient Greek myth of Medusa—an enigmatic and tragic figure, both feared and revered. Medusa, a woman transformed into a monstrous being, possesses the power to petrify onlookers with a single gaze, turning them into stone—an act that metaphorically blurs the boundary between life and sculpture.

Through Head On My Dear, Nymann interrogates the inherited interpretations of this myth within the framework of Western cultural history. The piece critically examines how Medusa’s image, continuously appearing and disappearing, challenges the mechanisms of cultural transmission. It reflects on the shifting dynamics of power and control between the observer and the observed, questioning who holds dominance in the act of looking and being looked at.

In this work, Medusa’s power is not simply reaffirmed but reimagined. Rather than a fixed symbol of destruction or victimhood, she becomes a fluid entity—one who oscillates between being the wielder of the gaze and the object of scrutiny. By doing so Nymann invites viewers to reconsider the implications of representation, perception, and agency in mythological and contemporary contexts alike.

Head On My Dear
Video installation HD video 16:9 [07:50 loop]

Credits
Filmed, edited and graded: Helene Nymann
Medusa: Diana Ø. Tørsløv Møller
Set-design: Anne Mette Fisker Langkjer
Sound: Jeppe Brix

Head On My Dear has been presented at ARoS in the exhibition Mythologies – The Beginning and End of Civilizations in 2020. The exhibition featured 70 artworks that dealt with faith, hope, crises and revolution and about how the power of stories has created and changed societies throughout history - from the Greek myths to the present-day welfare state. Read more about the exhibition Mythologies – The Beginning and End of Civilizations which featured Head On My Dear at ARoS.

Head On My Dear has been exhibited at New Museum in New York in 2019 as part of their Screen Series alongside Whether We Are and MOL. The Screen Series was organized by Helga Christoffersen, Associate Curator, and presents new video works by emerging artists. Read more about Head On My Dear and the Screen Series at New Museum.

Additional Reading

Hélène Cixous, The Laugh of the Medusa, Summer 1976 The University of Chicago Press.