entangled

entangled

Exhibition Opening September 10, 7pm – 9pm

entangled – Kaela Murphy

entangled addresses the centrality of hair to Black identity. As a culturally and politically charged signifier, Black hair elicits awe and abject response, both of which I have navigated throughout my life. Unsolicited commentary and touch, as well as personal questions from strangers, have fueled my considerations surrounding ethnicity and appearance.

Reflecting on past desires to change my appearance in order to conform to white-centric beauty standards have challenged my sense of identity and belonging. I make use of my own hair along with synthetic extensions as a means to examine the intricacies of identity and the gaze. These works offer material explorations that reference the ways in which my hair has become the forefront of my identity.

I am interested in how the removal of facial identifiers and engagement with hair pictorially and sculpturally affects interaction and emotion. Figures which become their own independent bodies offer explorations that reference how my hair has become central to my perceived identity while also tangling notions of the individual and universal experience.

Kaela Murphy’s practice is multidisciplinary, incorporating sculpture, drawing, and printmaking as she responds to unsolicited touching and uncomfortable conversations that she faces as a multiracial woman. Raised in Regina, Murphy currently works from Lethbridge, having completed the BFA program in Studio Art at the University of Lethbridge in 2022. Murphy’s lived experience has been one of confrontation often centred around and filtered through her hair. Through her work Murphy establishes and addresses boundaries that are regularly crossed by those who exoticize and objectify her.

Date:September 10th, 2022  -  October 30th, 2022

Location:Casa - Platform

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