The City of Victoria has made use of an unused space downtown for a makeshift art exhibit that features a local artist in residence.
For all of January, Victoria’s third artist in residence, Kemi Craig, has turned a storefront into a projected visual art piece.
The storefront window has been converted to a canvas for projected images made by Craig that plays on a loop and displays pieces of a live dance performance she created for Dance Victoria’s Dance Days 2022.
The art piece entitled ‘the space between ’ shows loops that focus on extreme close-ups of body parts in motion. Craig intended the projects to create pause with the viewer in that people can never experience an individual in their wholeness.
Her intention was to show people that we can only really get to know one small part of each other in great detail.
Craig pours herself into her art and she tries to show her lived experience as a woman of African descent in her artwork. She uses individuals with radicalized bodies and gendered subjects in her work that is shown in digital and analogue visuals that utilizes dance.
Her inspiration largely comes from Black history and looking to the future of everyday activities, visual histories and DIY and pop culture.
She went to the Emily Carr University of Art Design and to receive a master’s degree in fine art. She has performed in and had her art displayed in several galleries and theatres throughout Canada and she has been Dance Victoria’s Artist in Residence for the last three years.
“I am excited about the process of making art and working collaboratively to create performances that share agency with the other artists and create opportunities for audiences to participate by becoming activators and storytellers,” said Kemi.
“The opportunity to serve as the Artist in Residence for the City of Victoria will assist me in bringing art to public spaces. I look forward to creating alongside you all.”
You can see ‘the space between’ in the storefront of a retail space at 707 Douglas Street.
