THE PALETTE COLLECTION

THE PALETTE COLLECTION DEBUT

The Palette Collection is the result of five years of meticulous beading and embroidery work. The series consists of ten masks, referred to as “elements,” each individually designed and handmade by Dani Zwerg. Every mask acts as an intimate exploration of her inner world; reflecting fragments of memory, emotion, identity, and transformation. Through intricate craft and symbolism, the collection becomes both a personal archive and a meditation on the human psyche.

Tonight’s performance unfolds in two acts: The Procession and The Dance, tracing the fragile threshold between devotion and dissolution, life and death.

Blurring the language of ritual, theatre, and endurance performance, the work examines the human desire to be guided, witnessed, and transformed through connection to another.

In Act I: The Procession, two figures move together in ceremonial march. Dani, dressed in a white bridal gown, wears a hand-beaded mask that obscures her vision entirely, surrendering her autonomy and senses to Frank, the suited partner beside her. Hand in hand, they carry a painting inscribed with the words “Till death do us part,” adorned with embroidered love poetry gathered from local writers. The masked figure embodies innocence, reminiscent of the Fool archetype in tarot, standing at the precipice of an unknown journey, navigating existence through another’s perception. The procession becomes both wedding and funeral, a meditation on union, dependence, trust, and traditional power dynamics. Within the work, marriage and mourning mirror one another as parallel rites of passage: ceremonies marking both the beginning and ending of a cycle, from cradle to grave.

In Act II: The Dance, the suited figure enters a solitary Butoh practice, slowly transforming through a series of masks worn throughout the evening, while their bride finally unmasks and steps into a newfound inner authority. Each mask carries a distinct emotional state, allowing the body to become a vessel for grief, tenderness, joy, etc.

Through restrained and visceral movement, the performance explores identity as something fluid and continuously performed; a shifting landscape shaped by memory, emotion, and ritual embodiment.

Together, the two acts form a poetic reflection on love, surrender, mortality, and transformation. Dani’s work invites viewers into a liminal space where ritual becomes a mirror for the human condition, asking what it means to carry another through darkness, and what remains when the masks are finally removed.

INTRODUCING THE ARTISTS

DANI ZWERG

Rooted in her Romanian upbringing, Dani Zwerg is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice moves fluidly between abstract painting, textile work, and performance. Her work blends textile traditions passed down through generations of women in her family with painting taught to her by her grandfather, creating a dialogue between inheritance, memory, and material experimentation. Formally trained in hair and makeup for film and theatre, Dani combines technical craft with an introspective approach to explore the human condition.

Inspired by the natural world and personal experience, her work moves through themes of identity, love, grief, transformation, and the space between life and death. She often describes her paintings as “shadow work” : intuitive explorations of grief, fear, and the subconscious; while her hand-beaded masks emerge as “light work,” embodying healing, transformation, and transcendence. Through deeply personal and immersive creation, she invites reflection, connection, and self-exploration.

More information on her art and practice can be found at www.danizwerg.com and via instagram @zwergggg.   

PRACTICING FRANK

Practicing Frank is a London-based maker, poet, live artist and Butoh dancer. Their work explores the body as material, the poetic body and invocation of transcendence. Heavily influenced by the lineage of Kazuo Ohno, and lifeworks of Tehching Hsieh; Practicing Frank creates durational work that blends live art task-based approach, and the deep listening Butoh body which together invite the viewer to come back home to the present moment and the body. 

Developing an interdisciplinary approach, they have learnt under: Marie-Gabrielle Rotie, Norihito Ishii of Sankai Juku, Ken Mai, Vangeline, Marina Abramović, Martin O-Brien and Daniel Oliver among others; alongside extensive formal meditation in the Therevadā Buddhist Thai Forest Tradition. Their line of enquiry into the body and beyond continues to be walked back and forth, with the sensibility of practice makes practice.   

Practicing Frank’s performance work has been featured in the Marina Abramović retrospective in the Royal Academy of Art in London , Royal Albert Hall, London Decompression, L’age D’or surrealist art salon; as well as local galleries and events across London, Berlin, Florence and Agropoli. Currently they are the artist in residence for the Art of Darkness collective. 

More information on their art and practice can be found at www.practicingfrank.com and via instagram @practicingfrank.