….Psychosexual dioramas are further exposed in Deej Fabyc’s photographic diptychs depicting explicit photographic images of body parts. In Smack 1996, an erect penis protruding from y-fronts is accompanied by a blurred, abstracted organ as a paired diptych. In Inertia 1996-8, a couple reclines (the artist and her partner) alongside an image of two empty chairs, side by side. The couple rest, casually on a lawn with trees and blue sky in the distance, suggesting a romantic frisson while the vacant chairs allude to the unfulfilling dimension of coupling. Fabyc’s video projects are often sexually performative, exploring stalking and confinement. In Anorexia – voor Diana 1997, Fabyc walks rapidly through the narrow streets of Amsterdam early in the morning while being followed. Eventually she arrives at a door and turns around to say aggressively “fuck you” in an attempt to ward off the stalker. Partly commenting on the paparazzi who incessantly followed and invaded Princess Diana’s privacy, the video alludes to the damaging psychological effects of stalking. In Details 1997, Fabyc candidly removes her clothes while telling stories of the various blemishes, spots and scars on her body as a kind of anti-striptease.

Natalie King is a Melbourne based independent curator and writer