Ruth Lingford — Selkie
Reviewed by Chenoa Baker

Lingford’s work has always been rooted in narrative through author collaborations and interventions of the current moment. Her films, distinctly Feminist videos, combine many media forms: 2D digital, drawing, and live footage. She currently works as a Senior Lecturer on Art, Film and Visual Studies with a cross-departmental appointment in environmental studies at Harvard University.

Her work, Selkie, a monochromatic experience, embodies all of these interests. It starts with white outline-based fish that the negative space of the vast blue ocean brings to the forefront. While it looks like a work made from traditional printmaking, it is animation. After a while the scale gets progressively bigger, then seals appear to the sound of water and xylophone. The reverb makes it sound like echolocation. Fish morph into seals which morph into a femme body swimming in the water who emerges from the water looking at the land. In the next scene, a pregnant person is on the shore with a male-presenting figure in the background. More exposition is given to the femme-presenting person. The pregnant person takes off their clothes and goes into the water. The first figure turns into a bird; then many birds circle around in the sky until they are far away from our view. Therefore, this story feels folkloric or primordial.