I've been in Mauritius for about 10 days now, working on my new photography series ๐ค๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐/๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐, to be exhibited as part of my upcoming solo at the @centre_des_arts_visuels in March 2023. The days have been long and arduous, physically demanding, but I have been blessed to find dreamy, joyous, creative and dedicated collaborators in @ashvin.ramdin and Mervyn Gopal, who have been supporting me through this creative process. Doing this work has been a beautiful testament to how much I have grown, as an artist and as a queer/trans Mauritian since working on the ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ series a few years ago. I now come to this work with a more profound artistic vision, and so much more confidence in allowing the fullness of my queer being to take up space on the island. ๐ค๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐/๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ delves into the spiritual space that exists between the queer racialized body and the island body. Through meditations and ritual-performance captured through photography, I recreate an ancestral, decolonial and hybrid frame from which to rewrite and reinscribe the queer femme body onto the nationalist space of the island. Here are some outtakes from the project! I cannot wait to share the full-breath of this new work with all of you! This project is made possible thanks to the generous support of the @canada.council Photo credit: @ashvin.ramdin #queeringtheislandbody #photography #mauritius #mauritiusartist #queermauritius #transmauritius #art #artist #performer #performance #poet #poetry #visualart #visualartist #exhibition #exhibit #lgbt #lgbtq #queer #trans #transgender #femme #montrealartist #island #body #lamackerel #kamalamackerel #zomfam (at Mauritius, Indian Ocean, Africa) https://www.instagram.com/p/CloFkbsoYDP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
