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The second exhibition in CENSURA’s programme addresses the theme of self-censorship by turning the gaze inward, towards the individual.
The project originates from an image that is at once simple and deeply unsettling: the artist’s face shattering in a mirror. From this experience emerges a body of work composed of a documented performance, a sculptural light installation, and a sound piece built from recordings of dreams recounted in a state between sleep and wakefulness. Walking across fragments of broken mirror, Walter watches his own reflection fracture with every step. That seemingly stable figure gradually dissolves, only to be reassembled as a self-portrait constructed from his own shadow.
The work draws inspiration from Carl Gustav Jung’s concept of individuation, according to which confronting one’s Shadow is an essential step in the formation of consciousness. Break Your Image, however, does not seek to illustrate a psychological theory. Rather, it stages a universal experience: the moment when the image we have constructed of ourselves can no longer contain who we are.
From childhood, we learn which emotions may be expressed, which desires should be repressed, which vulnerabilities must remain hidden, and which versions of ourselves are considered acceptable in the eyes of others. Over time, what begins as adaptation can become such a deeply rooted form of self-censorship that it appears entirely natural.
It is precisely this threshold that Manuel Walter invites us to cross.
Visitors inevitably become part of the work. In the mirror fragments they encounter not only the artist’s face, but also their own reflection. The questions therefore become personal: Which image of myself am I still protecting? Which parts of myself am I still holding back? How much of the person I believe myself to be truly belongs to me, and how much has been shaped by the gaze of others?
The fragmented mirrors disrupt the linear narrative of consciousness, alter perception, and generate unexpected connections. They offer no definitive answers, only possibilities.
Presenting this project within CENSURA is therefore particularly significant. Installation—an artistic language often removed from conventional commercial frameworks—becomes the ideal medium for a practice driven not by the production of an object, but by the need to move through a process.
For this occasion, CENSURA also introduces a new way of experiencing the exhibition space. The installation will be visible exclusively during the evening and nighttime hours, viewed through the gallery’s glass entrance. Visitors do not enter the space; instead, they remain on the threshold.