We are accustomed to defining the human being within precise coordinates, "comfort zones" that reinforce the conviction of our own identity: an identity which – no matter how much it may change over a lifetime – remains static, always within its boundaries.

But what happens when these fixed points are no longer taken for granted?

“Nexaris Suite“ by Agnes Questionmark, hosted at the Tenuta dello Scompiglio in Lucca, delves into medical control over non-conforming, queer, and transgender bodies, reclaiming a sci-fi narrative to analyze and overturn power dynamics in the scientific field.

“The idea for the exhibition originated from an experience that profoundly impacted me: I was in Berlin participating in a live, robotically-assisted surgical operation on a patient's eyes under general anesthesia,” explains Questionmark.

“The only visible part of the body was the eyes,” Questionmark continues, “the rest of the room was loaded with medical devices and operating machines. Even the doctors and nurses were completely covered in gowns, gloves, everything completely sterile. This struck me deeply because it reveals how, in an operating room, the human nature, what remains biological and organic, is overshadowed by mechanical apparatus and artificiality.” From this experience comes “Nexaris Suite”, the work that gives the retrospective its title.

A huge non-human body, whose lower part is entirely composed of tentacles, appears immobilized and undergoing eye surgery. The only recognizable part (and the only human element) is indeed the face, just like in the operating room experience lived by the artist: extremely fine, pointed blades are directed towards the patient’s eyes.

The central element of Questionmark’s work is indeed the eye, symbolizing both control and resistance. The eye represents the point of conflict between dominated and dominator: an instrument of domination by the observer, but also a potential means of reaffirmation for the observed.

The artist proposes a possible inversion of power: when the patient, immobilized on the operating table, returns the gaze to the doctor, a symbolic reversal occurs. The eyes, from passive instruments, become a mirror-threshold, capable of overturning power dynamics and reaffirming the autonomy of the observed subject.

“I refer a lot to sci-fi,” Questionmark explains to Domus, “which, despite being historically dominated by a binary narrative, is used by some of the writers I have read – such as Octavia Butler – as a tool against that type of narrative.”
The goal of Questionmark’s artistic practice, in fact, is to “celebrate monstrosity, as Julia Kristeva writes in her essay on abjection; it is important to clarify that through abjection we can see our body; it is important to consider transspecies creatures to create a connection with nature.”

Questionmark denounces the increasing control exercised by science and technology over bodies, yet also offers a glimpse of possibility: an invitation to look beyond, imagining new worlds where hybridization is not a symbol of alienation, but of emancipation.

With “Nexaris Suite”, Agnes Questionmark creates a work that does not merely represent the human body but redefines it. Between dystopian aesthetics and social critique, the artist prompts us to confront the implications of technology on our present and future, opening a space to rethink the very concept of humanity. It is a work that challenges, unsettles, and inspires, reminding us that our identity, like our gaze, is always in transformation.