Towards is pleased to present Dual Homes, an exhibition of new work by Kareem–Anthony Ferreira.
Examining identity through the lens of a first-generation Canadian, Kareem-Anthony Ferreira explores the ways in which personal, social, and familial experiences coalesce to create hybrid identities – ones that are wholly unique yet draw upon multiple places at once.
Using family photo albums as a starting point, Ferreira selects elements from multiple images and reconfigures them into new compositions, often times collapsing various time periods, geographies, and individuals into a single scene. While carefully constructed, these images maintain their informal “snapshot–like” quality, highlighting an intimacy and reverence for the lived experience of his subjects. The depth and care with which the central figures are rendered sits in contrast to the somewhat cliché flora and fauna patterning that appears in many of the works. These reoccurring motifs become short-hand for a type of reductive understanding of the Carribean – where whole nations and cultures are reduced to places of escape and entertainment and stripped of their historical transcultural and transnational complexities.
The works within the exhibition are materially dense. Ferreira builds up his surfaces through the accumulation of physical materials. Torn cardboard, thread, and fabric are affixed to raw canvas and paper, and dense layers of paint are applied directly over top, creating richly textured surfaces. This act of assemblage serves as a physical embodiment of the ways in which memories and experiences amalgamate over time, while also referencing the the saving and repurposing of materials Ferreira witnessed in many relatives’ homes throughout Trinidad.
Central to Ferreira’s practice is an examination of the ways in which memory and identity are inextricably linked. Through these reconstructions, he highlights the malleability of both, underscoring the subjectivity of the lived experience while reminding us of our shared humanity.
