SKYE GELLMANN

Glass / Heels

Glass / Heels is an ongoing performance project built through a series of actions between glass, heels and the body. At its centre is the body attempting to move across a bed of broken glass in eight-inch heels. Walking is unstable. The glass shifts, the heels slip, and the body has to re-route with every small change. Risk assessment becomes the choreography.

Across the work, images accumulate and begin to interfere with each other. Glass is poured over skin and seen up close through live video. Real and fake materials sit beside each other. A clear sphere holds a heel inside and has to be cracked open. A pole introduces another condition: skin grips and slides, while the heels strike against it and begin to crack and shatter. Materials that first looked solid or reliable start behaving differently. Certainty starts to break.

As the actions continue, effort accumulates. The extended leg and height of the heel create a precise sculptural line against the broken surface. Beauty sits beside brutality, balanced in the same frame. Across these images, meaning attaches to the body quickly: danger, gender, skill, spectacle, what we see as real and what we see as fake. As they accumulate, those readings begin to fail. Perception shifts.

Glass / Heels is currently being developed towards a full-length performance.

Genres:
Performance art, Contemporary performance, Adaptive spaces: Gallery, stage, site.

Specifications:
Current iteration: 45 minutes
Future full-length work: 1 hour

Glass / Heels is suited to contemporary performance seasons, interdisciplinary festivals, and programs engaging with embodiment, gender, or experimental physical practice. The work pairs well with studio spaces, group shows, showcases, or durational formats.

Artist & Performer: Skye Gellmann
Live Video Artist: Babi Bertoldi
Lighting Design: Sammy Read
Sound Design: Marcus Whale
Mould Maker: Sarah Parker

Milestones:
Wings Independent Fashion Festival (first 10min iteration 2024)
Wings Independent II (2025)
Phoeton group show Chrissie Cotter Gallery (2025)
SIRC_UIT presents INSEQUENCE (2025)
Critical Path (initial formal enquiry 2025)
Aether Ties presents Soft Collapse (2025)
The Last Salon (2026)
Dark Mofo (2026)
Queer Development Program (developed to 15mins, 2026)
Rex Cramphorn Studio Residency, Sydney University (first stage development with lighting, sound and Live Video, 45mins 2026)

Glass / Heels has been supported by Branch Nebula, Critical Path, Performance Space / PACT: Queer Development Program, & Sydney University’s Theatre and Performance Studies: Rex Cramphorn Residancy.

Loading…