In the quest for the elixir of immortality, Chinese alchemists inadvertently discovered the brew of death: gunpowder…destined to incite fear in the lives of thousands of generations…power pulsating and harnessed in a cartridge, continually seducing and intoxicating minds into coughing out lightning made to open holes, that too often lead into soft flesh otherwise, just another placid metal that lays motionless…waiting to accede to intentions of its next restless predator  ~mxolisi dolla sapeta

How does Turalba’s piece talk so fluently about something as intricate and embedded as violence? The work’s components, as articles of personal clothing, connote intimacy. They also claim their place in shared public space, the res publica, the realm of power and authority that belongs to all. This easy crossover from the closed to the open, through the action of the wearers themselves, articulates Turalba’s view of the insidious nature of violence, its easy penetration, and more surprisingly, the non-distinction of perpetrator and victim. Elliptically the piece (Scandals) asks each experiencing it to consider his or her place in violence, and the willingness to be its subject as much as its instigator. In this fun, game-like participative work, Josephine Turalba thus exposes violence and its hold.  ~Iola Lenzi