The name is not a simple identifier; it holds many powers. For example, by naming something, we assert our dominance over it. This is why, in many traditions, knowing the name of a demon is crucial to subjugating it. When the demon reveals its name, it gives up a part of its power, revealing its inner nature and making itself vulnerable.
In this work, I deliberately invite you to speak my name, not to give it power, but to take it away. By naming it, I expose it, breaking its hold on me and freeing myself from its torment. It is an act of personal exorcism, a metaphor for the struggle against my own inner demons.
From a young age, I was confronted with the cruelty of bullying because I am homosexual. I was called derogatory names and physically abused. The rare expressions of affection I received were often only lures intended to hurt me. This reality had a profound impact on me, making me hypervigilant to any expression of kindness. I was unable to accept love without triggering self-destructive compulsions in myself.
As an adult, I found refuge in photography. I took wedding portraits and family sessions, capturing moments of artificial happiness to escape my own pain. But the compliments from my clients, their expressions of appreciation, only fueled my guilt and my sense of imposture. I unconsciously sabotaged their happiness by excessively delaying the delivery of their photo, ensuring their disappointment.
The pandemic arrived and amplified my loneliness, reviving bad memories from my past. Out of boredom and anger, I immersed myself in these frozen images of other people's happiness. By manipulating them digitally, I was struck by disturbing figures that seemed to impose themselves in the images. It was as if my inner demons were manifesting themselves physically, taunting me and reminding me of their constant presence.
At the same time, a strange coincidence occurred: my clients began to spell my first name incorrectly, adding an extra "D". At first, I thought it was simply a careless mistake. But the more it happened, the more troubled I became. This involuntary transformation into "SIMON DEMON" triggered a realization in me: my name bears the weight of my suffering.
By pronouncing my transformed name, I hope to finally be freed from it: I want it to resonate from now on as a cry of liberation, a personal exorcism that finally frees me from the demons of the past.