Stacey Tyrell: The theme of identity is predominant in the work of Stacey Tyrell.
Whitening skin, whitegluta, 2011.
About:
Stacey Tyrell was born and raised in Toronto, ON, Canada. She attended OCAD University where she majored in Photography. Her work predominantly deals with themes of identity, race and heritage as it pertains to post-colonial societies and the Caribbean Diaspora. Her work has appeared in such shows as Flash Forward 2012 at the Magenta Foundation, Position As Desired: Contemporary African Canadian Photography at the Royal Ontario Museum and the Canadian Museum for Immigration at Pier 21, MLK50 at the Places des Arts, PQ and Photography NOW 2009 at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY. Her images are part of Heritage Canada and the Montreal Arts Interculturels Collections permanent collections and have appeared in such publications as European Photography, Marie Claire South Africa, Pictures From Paradise: A survey of Contemporary Caribbean Photographers, Canadian Art Magazine, ARC Magazine, Prefix Photo and Applied Arts Magazine. She has also participated on various panels including the Canada Council for the Arts Next Generation Sounding 2013. She currently is based in Brooklyn, NY, USA.
From Backra Bluid series,-2011.
Artist’s Statement
I am a photo-based artist whose work discusses themes of identity specifically as it applies to populations in post-colonial societies. The title of the series “Backra Bluid” draws from both words of West Indian and Scottish origins. The term “Backra” is an archaic Caribbean slang of West African origin meaning white master or white person and “Bluid” is the Scotch word for the blood of men and animals as well as kin. In many parts of my family on both sides you will find many men from Scotland, England and Ireland. By simply changing my skin color and making subtle tweaks to my features I wish to show that if someone were to take a closer look at my face they would see that it might not be that much different from their own.
Backra Bluid series, 2011.
About:
The theme of identity is predominant in the work of Stacey Tyrell. This Canadian artist of Scottish and Caribbean origins confronts prejudice and photographs herself in order to condemn racial ideology. Taking inspiration from her family’s heritage, Tyrell uses makeup and costumes to transform herself into a white woman and throw the viewer off balance.
With this theatrical approach, she wants to deconstruct racial ideas, suggesting that people from post-colonial societies have multiple identities which extend beyond the color of their skin.
Backra Bluid is West African slang for “white person” (backra) and Scottish for “blood” or “kinship” (bluid).
