The idea of “Sweet Thorn” emerged from my tour to Palestine and South Africa and was developed at IPSA (Institute of Palestine in South Africa). “Sweet Thorn” was inspired by the sound of the phrase “sweet sweet home.” In the case of the performance, “home” became my own body—the essence of my soul that can’t be taken by anyone.

During the performance action, which lasted over an hour, I blew up balloons and wrote sentences on them while wearing a 50 m barbed wire structure with 70 roses.

I used the barbed wire to make ‘stems’ for the roses. On each stem I tied two or three burst balloons and made a white flower out of it. I then gave away the hand made flower, along with a rose, to someone passing by as a symbol of regeneration and a blossoming future. While giving away the flowers and cutting the wire, I slowly freed myself from the wire cage I was wearing to represent the notion that GIVING IS FREEING THE SELF.