If you could live with just one work of art, what would it be?
I’d say René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images (1929), because it is one of the first artworks I fell in love with and one that made me understand that art could be a portal to reflect on and to interpret the world. It highlights the inherent gap between image and reality, and the limitations of language to fully capture it.
Which cultural experience changed the way you see the world?
My dreams to become an archaeologist as a teenager took me to a summer dig near Viterbo, Italy. Imagine: weeks of sun, dust and the promise to unveil a Roman villa! Instead, after weeks of digging, we unearthed… a giant plastic tarp. I took it as a sign that perhaps my treasure lay elsewhere.
Which writer or poet do you return to the most?
Georges Bataille and his ‘Critical Dictionary’ section in the journal Documents (1929-1930). I wrote my dissertation on Bataille and he remains a constant source of inspiration. He literally took a hammer to every comfortable assumption and taught me to look beneath the surface, to find the grotesque beauty in the mundane, the subversive power in the overlooked.
What music or other audio are you listening to?
Nick Cave, as I am preparing to see him in concert. His new album, Wild God, is both visceral and soul deep.
What are you watching that you would recommend?
I’m watching Enlightened, a series starring Laura Dern, who plays such an intense character, deeply flawed, yet ultimately well meaning, navigating a world full of messy attempts at self-improvement and social change.
What is art for?
Art is a space where we can question, reimagine and ultimately expand our understanding of the world. It’s a tool to dream, to imagine new realities, but also to explore the complexities of human experience and to challenge comfortable narratives.
• Once Within a Time, 12th SITE Santa Fe International, 27 June-13 January 2026
