NNEKA KAI
New Exhibit
Collisions Might
Opening Reception - May 31 / 6 PM
Exhibition Dates: May 31 - June 28
Free and open to the public
The Westwood Gallery - 167 Genesee Street - Utica, NY 13501
Collisions Might
Opening Reception - May 31 / 6 PM
Exhibition Dates: May 31 - June 28
Free and open to the public
The Westwood Gallery - 167 Genesee Street - Utica, NY 13501
Bio:
Nneka Kai is an interdisciplinary artist from Atlanta, GA, with an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Fiber & Material Studies and a BFA in Textiles from Georgia State University. Currently, a long-term resident at Sculpture Space, Kai’s artistic practice centers on the question: What constitutes a free Black feminine form? This inquiry begins with Black hair as a material, concept, and practice. Through various disciplines, including fiber, sculpture, installation, and performance, Kai explores the nuances of embodied experiences, self-expression, and reclamation through abstraction. This approach integrates textile sensibilities, such as structure and tension, to reimagine connections to place, ancestry, and time. Kai's work questions how materiality and spatial arrangement can unveil new narratives that exist outside traditional definitions.
Artist Statement:
"Collisions Might" presents the latest body of work by Sculpture Space's 2023-24 Long-term resident, Nneka Kai. Made possible in collaboration with Sculpture Space and 4 Elements Studio.
This exhibit is about what happens when familiarity combines to create new possibilities. Kai's art shows how things we know can mix with what we don't, inviting us to see opposites collide.
In this exhibit, Kai focuses on objects like ships, oil barrels, and braided hair, which represent vessels of survival, movement, and resistance. She takes these things and their uses apart and puts them back together to present something totally new. By incorporating synthetic and human hair, she reclaims stories based on black women's identity and experiences, starting with the insides of ships. Kai uses this hair to twist, tie, and braid, changing how we see stability and showing that uncertainty can lead to new ideas and opportunities.
'Collisions Might' is not just an exhibition but a call to expand our horizons to view the world through a different prism. It beckons us to reconsider our past, present, and future. Kai's art serves as a reminder that when ideas clash, it can ignite a spark of new perspectives and ways of thinking.
This exhibit is about what happens when familiarity combines to create new possibilities. Kai's art shows how things we know can mix with what we don't, inviting us to see opposites collide.
In this exhibit, Kai focuses on objects like ships, oil barrels, and braided hair, which represent vessels of survival, movement, and resistance. She takes these things and their uses apart and puts them back together to present something totally new. By incorporating synthetic and human hair, she reclaims stories based on black women's identity and experiences, starting with the insides of ships. Kai uses this hair to twist, tie, and braid, changing how we see stability and showing that uncertainty can lead to new ideas and opportunities.
'Collisions Might' is not just an exhibition but a call to expand our horizons to view the world through a different prism. It beckons us to reconsider our past, present, and future. Kai's art serves as a reminder that when ideas clash, it can ignite a spark of new perspectives and ways of thinking.
