Cindy Hill

A bell I never hear
10.31–12.07.2024
Room 1

Cindy Hill’s exhibition A bell I never hear delves into the subtleties of gendered spaces and of the coming-of-age experience. Through sculptures and videos, Hill engages with stereotypes of girlhood while reimagining environments traditionally marked by masculinity. Her material-based practice often involves the transformation of objects—a deconstructing, reconstructing, or repurposing that challenges their associations and connections to the human body. 

One of the key works in the show, Briddle fantasy, is a leather couch arm that has been remodeled into a saddle. The brown leather couch, a symbol associated with masculine spaces such as man caves or dens, is historically linked to passive pleasure and relaxation. Hill reconfigures it into an active, dynamic object that evokes a girl’s burgeoning sexual curiosity. The work echoes the provocative images the German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton captured in the 1970s, where equestrian gear served as props in stylized scenes of submission and domination. In Newton’s work, saddles and harnesses transcend their functional roles to become potent visual metaphors for control, power, and desire—an erotic connotation that still pervades. Briddle fantasy taps into this fetishistic charge, while also commenting to the often-hidden ways in which girls discover intimate pleasure, and how the subdued, secretive experiences of female desire contrast to the open discussion of male sexuality. The piece also reflects the cultural trope of the "Horse Girl," the mostly derogative archetype of an introverted and socially awkward horse-obsessed girl. Reflecting on personal references associated with her sister’s experience, Hill critiques how female passion and self-confidence are often shamed or ridiculed.

The exhibition also features a large hanging chain wrapped in a textile that resembles plaited hair and adorned with oversized ceramic charms. This piece, Keepsake, evokes the act of braiding hair—an intimate gesture of care deeply rooted in the experiences of girlhood and bedroom culture. The heavy charms symbolize the weight of societal expectations and the way identity is shaped through objects and practices tied to femininity. Hill’s work often bears traces of manipulation to address the complicated relationship between the body and used objects, which oscillate between allure and revulsion, pleasure and shame, empowerment and discomfort. 

The video piece titled "Jean and Herela’s 50th Anniversary Celebration", shot by the artist and displayed on a vintage television set presents a sequence of slow, deliberate hand movements washing a saddle inspired by actual YouTube instructional videos. The actions in the video take on a sensual, ambiguous quality, straddling the line between educational and erotic. The VHS format lends a dreamlike quality to the piece, suggesting memories of early sexual awakenings marked by curiosity and confusion. The grainy, distorted visuals, reminiscent of 1990s homemade videos, further amplify the influence of media and technology in the construction of desire and pleasure. Hill’s exploration of fetish culture extends to a freestanding sculpture of a leather-upholstered door, studded with swirling patterns. The piece titled Permissions act as a threshold between public and private realms, hinting at the liminal spaces where fantasies take shape.

Throughout the exhibition, Hill challenges viewers to question their own perceptions of gendered spaces, desire, and power, and offers an intimate yet unsettling meditation on the complexities of the female experience.

— Anaïs Castro