Olana Light




My practice moves between wearable sculpture, performance, photography, and film, exploring ideas of identity, belonging, and otherness. The transformative power of wearable sculptures helps to explore the self-doubled and camouflaged. I hide the presence of my person by masking race, social status, and class; I transform into a being who is constantly seeking a home, trying to understand what it means to be human, and questioning where I belong.



I am interested in exploring the multiplicity of identity relationships of my self through the self-portrait and performance: how performance can alter my self-representation.

Comments

  1. AldobrantiMay 1, 2023 at 12:00 PM

    Wearable sculpture is an interesting addition to the tool-chest / props cupboard for performance artists. It builds on the statement power of masks.

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  2. ExploristMay 2, 2023 at 8:15 PM

    Lovely bark mask! - I like this idea of masks as ways of trying out other identities, and by performing these becoming them for a while. Something I also try in my own practice.

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  3. AnonymousMay 5, 2023 at 9:51 AM

    this really is lovely. is this real bark you are wearing? i love the way you are part of the tree, its branches are your arms. it also looks as if you have somehow emerged from the tree out of a hidden door or something. i remember reading some interesting stuff about camouflage in a book by R. Callois, The Mask of Medusa, 1964, when i was writing about Claude Cahun's work. On p 62 of my book Claude Cahun: A sensual politics of photography, starts a section about mimicry and camouflage, influenced by Callois' writings. this isn't supposed to be a plug for my book, just to say i found this very interesting, as Callois links mimicry, photography and performance. i would write more but have to go out now. will try to return to this great image later. Am interested to know what performance you did on this occasion.....? Lovely work.

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousMay 6, 2023 at 10:54 AM

      sorry the previous comment was from me, Gen Doy, i thought i had managed to register my name but have failed!

      Delete
  4. Demeter DykesMay 10, 2023 at 10:12 PM

    Imagining being dressed in bark gives a disconcerting sense of other life forms. This image is fearless and otherworldly and your presence has a quiet power. Are you also observing whilst being camouflaged?

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  5. Artmuseum Alexandra FlyMay 23, 2023 at 8:06 PM

    This work is very inspiring for me, because in the 90s I created a series of drawings of women trees. And now I see my drawings in the third dimension. A great idea for a performance. The role of taking union and symbiosis with nature has a fairy -tale atmosphere. This work is very close to me because I also create costume sculptures to play in my performances. However, they concern a different topic

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