05-10-22 | Identity in The Work of Alice Rekab and Libita Clayton
Early on in the term I discovered the work of Alice Rekab. Their work explores how a family’s story and identity is disseminated through objects collected and presented in the domestic space. I was particularly drawn to their ceramic works in which different coloured clays act as representations of different skin tones. Rekab describes how the skin tone of mixed race people affects their feeling of belonging - an idea which resonates with me and I hope to investigate through my project this year.
Then there is Libita Clayton who I continue to reference in my work for her 2019 exhibition at Gasworks, entitled Quantum Ghost. Working with archival material, Clayton produced a body of work dealing with the mining industries of both Namibia and Cornwall. Again, it is an exploration of mixed heritage via the archive. I am drawn to the ideas of making connections between two seemingly disparate cultures, which in fact share commonality.
1. Rekab, Alice, and Louis Haugh, Alice Rekab, More than Two Parents, 2018. Installation View The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art, Dublin. Image Courtesy the Douglas Hyde and the Artist. Photography Louis Haugh., 2018, Image <http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/alice-rekab-family-lines> [accessed 5 October 2022]
2. ‘A Conversation with Alice Rekab about “Family Lines” at Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin |’, Flash Art, 2022 <https://flash---art.com/2022/08/alice-rekab/> [accessed 5 October 2022]
3. www.dandelion-burdock.com, dandelion & burdock, ‘Alice Rekab | Family Lines’, Thisistomorrow <http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/alice-rekab-family-lines> [accessed 5 October 2022]
4. Quantum Ghost, Libita Clayton, 2019 (Gasworks installation view photo by Andy Keate)
5. Gasworks, ‘Libita Sibungu: Quantum Ghost | Exhibitions | Gasworks’, Gasworks, 2019 <https://www.gasworks.org.uk/exhibitions/libita-clayton-2019-01-24/> [accessed 23 April 2023]
6. Interview with Libita Clayton, Quantum Ghost Exhibition at Gasworks, dir. by Gasworks, 2019 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6U_QcTgr0U> [accessed 23 April 2023]
