Begin Autopsy by Katia Rabey

Pendant / Figurative Geometric Playful

The full title of this work is “Begin autopsy on a white male, age sixty, who is arguably having a worse time in Texas than I am, though not by much” which is a quote from special agent Dana Scully, a character portrayed by Gillian Anderson on the 90s show “The X-Files”.

When I was little, I was obsessed with the show, with aliens and UFO-sightings, with American government conspiracies, and, most of all, with special agent Dana Scully. I had her face on every sticker, every bookmark, every poster, and even on a cover of my school book.

When I went into puberty, I became less passionate about UFOs and government conspiracies, however, it was my childhood obsession with smart, sarcastic, strong, and beautiful Dana Scully that helped me realize my sexuality, which wasn’t an easy thing in the early 2000-s Russia. I dedicated this pendant – shaped like an alien head, but containing a reference to agent Scully – to my teenage years when a lot of puzzle pieces of my identity were hidden deep into various pop-culture obsessions.

This piece participated in an exhibition “In-School Suspension” organized by JV-Collective in November 2020.