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CAGE II

Cage II, 2023, acrylic, wood, LED lights, 52.5 x 16 x 30.5 cm.

The visible three-dimensional shape of the carving within the sculpture is an illusion created by the illuminated hollow inside, a replication of the negative space left behind in cultures today as Indigenous artworks continue to be occupied in modern Western institutions. Cage II visualizes the invention of cultural possession through the containment of a non-existent sculpture, commenting on the commodification and segregation of objects from the cultures they embody. This references the illusion of White ownership and its responsibility for the White biased narrative surrounding historical Indigenous artworks, narratives that silence Indigenous voices from communicating their history. Cage II's illusion of presence shows the observable is untruthful, a reference to both biased narratives and the minimalist contextual information of Western museum aesthetics by playing with present absence. The piece also questions what European institutions would look like if the cultural displacement of objects was rectified.

This work was shown at the Bath Fringe Arts Festival in 2023.

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