Created during the residency at Chateau d’Orquevaux in France, this video is inspired by Baudelaire’s masterpiece « Les fleurs du mal », a collection of ‘cursed poetry’, encapsulating the French Decadent movement. Decadence, in the context of womanhood and feminism, holds relevance in its essence of refusal—an opposition to the norm. This manifests as a rejection of art historical ideologies (such as the use of craft), gendered norms, traditional feminine roles, and discourse around excessive consumption of food, alcohol, and drugs. Chantal purposefully embrace this ‘excess’ as a deliberate and liberating aesthetic, contemplating the obsessive, violent and addictive nature of desire. In conclusion, decadence is far from obsolete; we live in undeniably ultra-decadent times. The performance navigates and challenges these decadent complexities, offering a contemplative lens on the refusal of societal norms and the liberation found in embracing excess.