Observing the Observation of a Conversation

Captivating concoctions of multi-layered collage, Anne Speier’s works stage intriguing narratives in enigmatic landscapes and interiors. Deploying a plethora of media, including pencil, watercolour and printmaking, Speier’s characters, usually female, distort the perspective and scale of their domestic worlds. Cryptic vignettes of surrealistic characters in unexpected settings, her works become tantalising puzzles, subtly critiquing social stereotypes. In Observing the Observation of a Conversation (2014), a trio of figures clothed in glossy photographic crumples of bread and egg seem to disturb the repose of a fourth character. Combining Speier’s spellbinding technical craft with her flair for vivid, eccentric storytelling, this work recalls a passage from The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life by American sociologist Erving Goffman, in which, as Saim Demircan notes, ‘a woman watches three figures’ interaction to observe their actual impressions of each other.’