SHE

5:43 color video with audio

Through sculpture, installation, photo and time-based media, Pam Korman explores the construction of identity by tracing the lingering influence, subtle patterns, and weight of maternal inheritance. Beyond both genetics and physiology, “inherited” gestures, tendencies, patterns, and word choices are passed down through repeated exposure and imitation, rather than being taught, echoing those who came before and shaping the selves we inhabit. SHE frames inheritance as an active and ongoing negotiation between generations rather than a single, passive act of receiving. Korman combines repetitive action—ballerina spins, bowl mixing, and back and forth floating motions—with layered and competing text. These overlapping visual elements create a struggle over what is seen, read, remembered, or obscured. Round and round, forward and backward, and side to side, a tension opens between influence and agency, instinct and performance, inheritance and self-determination. Through this friction, Korman reveals the complex and often contradictory ways identity is formed through what is passed down.

A video still of 'SHE' with a black background, abstract white shapes and red text at the bottom that reads, 'the scene, she wanted, she acted.'
Experimental video still 'SHE' at Icebox Project Space, a woman repetitively mixing a blood red velvet cake mixture in a white bowl on a white marble surface.
Experimental video still 'SHE' at Icebox Project Space, close-up of a person applying red lipstick in a mirror, with some smudges on the mirror surface.

SHE in the 20/92 Video Festival at Icebox Project Space

Dark gallery at Icebox Project Space in Philadelphia with a large white screen displaying Pam Korman's experimental video 'SHE', audiences sitting on couches and chairs in silhouette.
Experimental video still 'SHE' at Icebox Project Space, a woman repetitively mixing a blood red velvet cake mixture in a white bowl on a white marble surface. In front of the screen, people are seated and watching Pam Korman's video media.
A person with curly hair, seen from behind, sitting and watching a large screen playing experimental video still 'SHE' at Icebox Project Space.
People seated in front of a large screen displaying an experimental video of a person's face with lips and nose close-up, at multimedia exhibit 20/92 Video Festival at Icebox Project Space.
An indoor art installation with a large white wall displaying experimental video in festiva, and a small section of text reading 'she fell, she wanted' in red letters, surrounded by seating and sound equipment, with a few people seated and observing.