Fakewhale Solo Series presents Ministers Baby pt. 3 by Lorna Mills

Ministers Baby: Semiotics of Silence Through GIF

Canadian visual artist Lorna Mills has been a key figure in the international art scene since the early 1990s. Starting her career with analog media such as Super 8 film, video, painting, and photography, Mills then transitioned to digital platforms in 1993, embracing the GIF format in 2003. With this shift to digital media, she was able to combine classic cinematic influences with contemporary digital practices, further enriching her narrative style and expanding her visual vocabulary.

Read the full Fakewhale Curation

Lorna Mills’ work is profoundly influenced by experimental cinema, an influence particularly evident in her approach to dismantling and reassembling visual narratives. This technique reflects the hallmark styles of avant-garde filmmakers such as Stan Brakhage and Maya Deren, whose work also challenged conventional narratives to create immersive, experiential storytelling. Similarly, Mills adopts an analogous strategy with her GIFs, transforming routine viewing experiences into innovative opportunities for engagement and interpretation.

“Ministers Baby” originally began as a response to pressing societal issues, with its inception marked by a piece created for Refraction Miami 2023. Mills had initially discovered the inspiration for this series years earlier in the form of a GIF — a GIF remained contextless until the significant societal shift brought about by the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which provided the impetus for its thematic focus.

This historical shift transformed the series into a sharp commentary on women’s rights and autonomy. Moreover, Mills’ decision to use Sign Language to articulate a politically and socially charged word deepens the work’s impact, infusing it with layers of provocation and insight.

In this context, the choice to use Sign Language is not merely a methodological decision but a profound exploration of how visual art intersects with communication and technology to reshape narratives. By utilizing the GIF as more than just a medium for artistic expression but as a tool for complex communication, Mills engages with and challenges the viewer to reflect on how art influences and transforms personal and communal discourses.

“Ministers Baby pt. 3” captures a woman articulating a word in Sign Language within a meticulously crafted GIF that loops through 20 frames at a resolution of 1080×1080 — each iteration of the loop prompting a deeper understanding and reevaluation of the sign, emphasizing the fluidity and layered meanings inherent in non-verbal communication.