Artist Statement

Alien Hand is an evocative and intimate portrait of the struggle with memory loss. Fairy tale, poetry, voice, and mysterious atmospheric sound take the viewer through an intense, emotional journey which shifts between the real and the surreal. The struggle is personalized in the artist’s father but then universalized and reflected in the confused dementia of residents in a nursing home. The artist has become a traveller both as observer and as participant in a strange and foreign landscape where language and habits must be re-interpreted to be understood.

• Susan Turner works in video and photo-based media and deals with issues of memory, language, and personal identity. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Turner has received Canada Council and Manitoba Arts Council support for her work and has been awarded several residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Alien Hand received a jury Award at the 2002 Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival (Canada).