Aeryn Santillan

“Withdraw”

Withdraw verb 

transitive verb 

1 a: to take back or away : REMOVE

b: to remove from use or cultivation

c: to remove (money) from a place of deposit

d: to turn away (something, such as one's eyes) from an object of attention e: to draw (something, such as a curtain) back or aside

2 a: to remove from consideration or set outside a group

b (1): TAKE BACK, RETRACT

(2): to recall or remove (a motion) under parliamentary procedure

intransitive verb

1 a: to move back or away : RETIRE

b: to draw back from a battlefield : RETREAT

2 a: to remove oneself from participation 

b: to become socially or emotionally detached

3: to recall a motion under parliamentary procedure

“Withdraw” is a work reflecting on the state of society in 2020 through an intimate lens. Taking to heart the statement “the personal is political”, I reflected on my own journal entries, past conversations with close family and friends, and witnessing their struggles through the past year. The various definitions of ”withdraw” capture many of these experiences. There have been too many lows to count this year but, also highs, and even moments of calm and clarity. A lot of what is important has been put in focus through the chaos around it and I have attempted to capture all those feelings into the following piece. —Aeryn Santillan

”Withdraw” was generously commissioned by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (Beverly Hills, CA)