Excerpt from “Outsider Artists”, essay by Glenn Adamson in Possibilities & Losses: transitions in clay, ed. Clare Twomey, 2009

“Sormin’s signature motif is a lattice of hand-pinched clay, which seems to crawl all over her diverse whirlwinds of objects, linking into a single composition. That insistent pattern of fingerprinted squeezings is present in this new installation too, but only here and there. Instead, the binding agent is a set of walkways, that give the impression of hanging just above the waterline of a swamp in a nature preserve. Sormin is venturing into foreign territory alright, and like it or not you’re coming with her. One of the most distinctive aspects of her installations – which distinguishes her from other artists who create similarly sprawling and informal affairs — which distinguishes her from other artists who create similarly sprawling and informal affairs, such as Sarah Sze and Jason Rhoades – is that the audience is invited to take a hand in making and unmaking the work. The results are always inspiringly chaotic…

For the MIMA installation, Sormin upped the ante still further by inviting curator James Beighton to take a hammer to her work, on opening night and on subsequent occasions during the run of the show. This was great theatre. In addition to literalising the usually implicit tension between curators and artists (to groups of professionals who hate to love one another), it also turned on its head the role usually accorded to Beighton as the backstage facilitator, making him into artistic raw material. For the purposes of the installation, he is just as much a prop as the ladder in the corner. Sormin has controlled his movements through the installation carefully, providing certain ‘access points’ through which he could crawl. So as not to miss the point, visitors are offered a video of Beighton in the act. 

It’s the sort of powerplay that viewers of contemporary art have become used to, but with a twist.”