yon natalie mik

 Lotusfrau Washing (work in progress), 2026, Single-channel video, color/sound, 7min.

It remains unclear what she is trying to remove — dirt, text, or residue — but the repeated friction gradually produces small red marks. The body becomes a site of labor, where care and abrasion coincide. Humor, endurance and irony coexist. Off-screen we hear a woman singing Korean labor folk songs (노동요) associated with washing clothes by the rivers and domestic chores. The voice introduces a memory of resilience while pointing to forms of women’s cultural and artistic expression that were rarely formally documented. This work is an offering, a poem and a counter archive of women’s art and labor outside linear time and logics of resolution.

The work is part of a video series Lotusfrau, which examines speculative histories of women’s labor across contexts, including Asian and diasporic figures, and the ways feminized bodies and roles have been marginalized, racialized, and sexualized within patriarchal systems.

Direction and Performance: Yon Natalie Mik / Camera and Lighting: Rina Nakano / Singing Voice: TBA