PROMINENT Scottish-based artists will explore dual identities in an exhibition which will open in St Andrews in October.
Many of the 13 artists who will be showcased in the touring show have a cultural heritage which is both Scottish and is rooted in another cultural home. The show also explores other dualisms and forms of identity, including artists who express their sexuality, disability, or trans and non-binary selves through their work.
“Scotland is undergoing a cultural shift as it repositions itself in the wider world, with Scottish art at the centre of the current discourse about Scottish social identity,” said Bajan-Scottish artist turned curator Cat Dunn. “Art and craft can express aspirations, values, and national character.”
She added: “Having dual identity can be used to celebrate social identity, or it can be used as a platform to express and teach others what life can be like from another perspective. For everyone who has embraced the term dual-identity, we do so with pride as we prefer to embrace the term than have it used against us.”
Speaking as part of the conversations series that accompanies the artworks, artist Tilda Williams-Kelly said: “I think as a mixed-race person, it’s hard to cement myself in any one thing and I think what I’ve always felt mostly my life is not enough of any one thing. Not Scottish enough. Not Black enough. Not White enough. Not Irish enough. Not Trinidadian enough.
“I think all those things are diluted. All together they make up me and it’s taken me a long time to become proud of that. At least comfortable in who I am. So in my art, I started by drawing my family quite obsessively. I wanted to paint them beautifully and just say like, look at this person. Look at this person I love. Tell me that they’re not worth as much.”
For many of the featured artists their dual identity informs craft activity in their work such as Ashanti Harris’s use of mask making techniques from Caribbean Carnival culture or Adil Iqbal’s woven tapestries in collaboration with makers in Orkney and Pakistan.
Zimbabwean-Scottish artist Sekai Machache references the ancient indigo dyeing processes across West Africa in her art practice, while Hong Kong born Viv Lee’s unique sculptural ceramics are influenced by prehistoric cultures that she makes using Scottish clay to harness the elemental beauty of her adopted homeland.
Chinese-Scottish artist Rae-Yen Song’s work explores dual identity using puppets and Korean-Scottish ceramicist Joy Baek has borrowed the imagery of the symbolic flower, Pulsatilla Koreana, the so-called Grandmother flower, from Korean folklore to highlight the sacrifice and unconditional love of an elderly Korean mother for her daughters.
Fife Contemporary will curate an associated programme of workshops and activities in collaboration with community groups and partner organisations to explore themes from the exhibition, offering a space for all to celebrate and communicate their own social, personal and cultural identity.
Fife Contemporary director Kate Grenyer said: “Cat Dunn has brought a thoughtful, personally reflexive and powerful voice to the creation of this exhibition.
“It speaks to the deeply personal resonance that crafted work can have, as a carrier of wider cultural identities, and as a way to intercept these through personal expression.” The audio recordings featured in the exhibition will have a particular resonance with many visitors as the artists share their own experiences.”
Crafted Selves: The Unfinished Conversation will open at St Andrews Museum on October 14.
