BELLA CARDIM

Writing Lines originates in a disciplinary practice imposed during my childhood: copying the same sentence repeatedly as a way of correcting behavior. Repetition was understood as a method of instruction, capable of shaping thought through the continuous inscription of language.

 

Over time, I began to recognize this logic beyond the written exercise. Ideas about discipline, adequacy, appetite, and the body were also reinforced through repetition, often quietly, until they became internalized as personal beliefs.

 

In the series, I return to this structure deliberately, using phrases such as I Will Not Be Ashamed of My Body and I Will Not Eat My Feelings. The sentences are repeated through sewing, handwriting, video, sculpture, and other material forms. Language moves from the page to the surface of fabric, objects, and the body.

 

The act remains repetitive, but its function changes. What once operated as correction becomes a way of exposing the mechanisms through which behavior and self-perception are shaped. The repeated sentence no longer instructs the body to conform. It makes visible the command itself.

 

Writing Lines examines how language becomes embodied through repetition, and how social and familial messages can persist long after their original source has disappeared. By returning to the form of the punishment, the series transforms repetition from an instrument of discipline into a material for questioning and resistance.