Nicole Awai is one of the artists in ‘SHE: Deconstructing Female Identity, ArtsWestchester, White Plains, NY
From March 15 through June 25, 2016.
I am not a tourist, 2016 (detail)
Statement:
I just finished this installation on Thursday for SHE: Deconstructing Female Identity at ArtsWestcehester. I responded to the curved wall in the space and re-envisioned this wall drawing as an installation. I had the ‘curtain’ fabricated at Hare and Hound Press in San Antonio. The pattern is taken from a sarong beach wrap that I have had since the time that I lived in Trinidad that I would wear to the beach there. I’m Not A Tourist is a nail polish color (similar to the dark green in the curtain and wrap) made by the make-up company Prevail. The names that this company gives their nail polish colors really speaks to the urban reality and ethnographic evolution of New York City. For the installation, the curtain starts at the top, the actual size of the pattern on the beach wrap and expands progressively so that the size of the Leatherback Turtle pattern is around the same size as the actual turtles. The Leatherback Turtles are truly global citizens they move seasonally all their lives to specific locations, throughout Asia, Africa, South America, the Southern United States and the Caribbean . The beaches of northern Trinidad is one of these sites.
I am not a tourist, 2016.
About the exhibition:
https://artswestchester.org/she-deconstructing-female-identity/
SHE: Deconstructing Female Identity explores what it means to be a woman in contemporary America. In an age that so heavily emphasizes identity, women of all ages struggle with the trappings of being female and with their own self-perception. SHE explores the concept that femininity, and gender generally, is a grand performance piece — a constant play between societal “norms” and self-definition.
(older work. Not in exhibition)
The 11 exhibiting artists work across media and engage with themes of the body, self-presentation, a woman’s “proper” space, gender roles, and feminine personas. Many of the works draw on accessories and accoutrement that are identified with traditional notions of femininity (handbags, bras, doilies, nail polish, ) transforming these items into vehicles for witty reflections on modern womanhood. SHE will debut several new works as well as commissions specifically for the exhibition.