‘She Wants to Know’, an experimental documentary about a woman who goes solo to New Zealand and makes location specific art work in and responsive to the various landscapes she encounters. The viewer learns about her artistic process, and sees how she is subtly changed by her experience. With a reverence for place that is balanced between childhood memory and the often uncertain path forward, the film poetically and symbolically articulates archetypal desire, posing the ancient question of the meaning and metaphor of the prodigal journey.

She Wants to Know, 2012
Video performance 10:34

She Wants to Know documents a journey of interactions between the artist and her surroundings in nature. Sykes responds to the landscapes that she traverses throughout New Zealand by creating temporary installations with a variety of materials, using what is on hand as well as from the environment itself. The repeating form of the labrys, an ancient symbol of female power that comprises the installations, guides both her inner and outer journey of prodigality.  The score and narration echo the magnitude and intimacy of the encounters. 


Concept and direction: Ginny Sykes
Performer: Ginny Sykes
Music: Victor Sanders
Camera: Ginny Sykes, Jo Grace, Roland Idaczyk, Lorenzo Santamaria
Video editing: Ginny Sykes, Jon Drake