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Crafted Selves: The Unfinished Conversation

Crafted Selves: The Unfinished Conversation

December 25, 2023
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Crafted Selves: The Unfinished Conversation, part of Fife Contemporary, features thirteen artists living and working in Scotland, featuring many craft and visual artworks, from ceramics to textiles, paintings, and installation elements. We hear from Kate Grenyer, Director Fife Contemporary 2023, about the ideas underpinning the exhibition and their broader impact.

These artists experience and live with dual identities. At least part of their identity is 'othered' - made to feel different or marginalised from parts of society because of their race, gender, disability or other cultural experience. They express this experience through their work and find a way to reclaim and feel pride in the excluded part of their culture and identity.

The artists involved in this exhibition are Ashanti Harris, Sara Pakdel-Cherry, Eden Dodd, Emelia Kerr Beale, Harvey Dimond, Sekai Machache, Viv Lee, Adil Iqbal, Joy Baek, Li Huang, Tilda Williams-Kelly, Rae-Yen Song and Alberta Whittle.

Dual Identity means navigating geographies imposed on you by others, whether real or imagined. It is others dictating whether you 'belong'. It exists on the surface in multiple places but can never form deep and stable roots.


Image: Curator Cat Dunn comes face to face with artist Ashanti Harris' artwork Emi Ori Cse in Bronze photo by Neil Hanna. Image above: photo courtesy of Neil Hanna

Nevertheless, it also means having access to a multitude of cultures and the ability to feel comfortable and make meaningful relationships in an array of places across the world. Dual identity can often be fraught with negative connotations, yet artists have used their lived experiences to create artworks with joy.

The research for this exhibition investigated how each artist dealt with the negative and positive connotations associated with having a dual identity and how this is shown through the lens of craft and visual art.

Crafted Selves: The Unfinished Conversation invites you, the audience, to become part of the conversation.

In recent years conversations about personal and cultural identity have become a bigger part of our national and social conversation. It should be no surprise then, that expressions of personal identity and cultural history have also become a growing concern in the work of many contemporary artists. It is also gratifying to see the work of these artists gaining greater recognition. This felt like an appropriate moment therefore, to create an exhibition exploring the many ways in which craft and identity intersect in the work of contemporary Scottish artists.


Image: Li Huang, Sacred.

It is also notable that when many artists consider cultural identity, they think in depth about the materials they are using; looking to craft materials, cultural methodologies, or histories of art, to explore their personal selves or shared histories. It was important to Fife Contemporary to make sure that we worked with a curator for whom identity is pivotal to their practice and research, and who would be immersed in the work of artists who are at the centre of this conversation.

By commissioning Cat Dunn, we knew we were working with someone who directly understood how identity can impact the work of marginalised groups, both through research and lived experience. Fife Contemporary are delighted to present Crafted Selves. We have learned a lot from the conversations this exhibition has started; its subheading acknowledging that this goal of understanding each other more remains ongoing. Considering the highly personal themes the topic of this exhibition explores, it is possible to see once again the high value that visual art, craft, and making have for allowing us to explore painful and challenging topics through creativity. I remain deeply moved by how many artists in this exhibition chose tightly crafted and thought filled methodologies for working to help them express a personal connection to challenging cultural experiences with clarity and precision.

In so doing they reclaim the narrative, turning this into moments of pride and joy in which we can all share.


Image: Sekai Machache, The Divine Sky.

Text courtesy of Kate Grenyer, Director Fife Contemporary 2023.

Crafted Selves: The Unfinished Conversation is on show as part of Fife Contemporary at St Andrews Museum until 24 February 2024. Find out more and plan your visit:
www.fcac.co.uk/event/crafted-selves-the-unfinished-conversation
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