Virginia L. Montgomery: Dream Metamorphosis

Virginia L. Montgomery (VLM) (American, b. 1986) is a multimedia artist who works with video, performance, sound design, and sculpture mediums. VLM is known for her synthesia-esque and surrealist works that unite elements of mysticism, science, and her own lived experience as a neurodivergent individual. Dream Metamorphosis features a selection of three works made in 4K digital video that pull viewers into an all-encompassing miniature world inhabited by moths and butterflies.

Butterfly Birth Bed (Virginia L. Montgomery, US 2020, 6 minutes, 4K digital video)
Inspired by the butterfly effect—the philosophical theory that suggests that any small change in our environment, even the gentle flapping of a butterfly's wings, may manifest big climatic change. The video documents the ethereal emergence of live butterflies over storm imagery contained in a butterfly-scale shaker-style bed.

Curated by Gordon Nelson, Moving Image Department

O, Luna (Virginia L. Montgomery, US 2021, 6 minutes, 4K digital video)
O, LUNA blends together themes from ancient mythology, feminist psychoanalysis, and material physics, such as the cosmic egg myth, the Grecian myth of psyche, the gaze, and the Coriolis effect. The video investigates philosophical themes of materiality, metamorphosis, and atomic consciousness through gesture, texture, and intimacy.

Bella Luna (Virginia L. Montgomery, US 2023, 4 minutes, 4K digital video)
Bella Luna features Bella, a North American luna moth, as she gently flutters between sticks and bells. Working together, Bella and VLM co-create a healing soundscape as both entities, moth and human, share in a common dialogue of sounds, symbols, and intimacy.

Credit line: Video descriptions and stills courtesy of the artist