Ornamental. Oriental.
Created Wednesday, 16th February 2011, 21:27 by Whykay
March 9th-16th, 2001 (opening reception March 9th from 6-8pm)
The Joinery
6 Rosemount Terrace,
Arbour Hill,
Stoneybatter,
Dublin 7
“Ornamental. Oriental.” comprises of collaborative mixed-media works, including photography, painting and illustration. Both Nititham and Pereira live in Ireland and are of Asian descent and the work explores the notion of identity through self-presentation and reception. “Ornamental. Oriental.” aims to challenge predominant representations of Asians and Asian ethnic identity in popular culture. This is of note as both artists have a unique relationship to Ireland and Asia.
Nititham, who has lived in Ireland for the last five and a half years, was born and raised in the US and is of Filipina/Thai heritage. Pereira, born and raised in Ireland, has an Irish mother and a Singaporean father. These positions have resulted in a range of perspectives and insights into identity and culture. Nititham and Pereira will present their own separate works as well as a number of current collaborative self-portraits.
In Nititham’s individual project, she includes a series of photographic portraits exploring the problematic position of being an American of Asian descent in different geographical locations. In this series, entitled “Becoming Fob-ulous”, she places herself in identifiably Irish landscapes in traditional Thai dress.
Pereira’s paintings and illustrations explore notions of Orientalism and work to debunk popular culture myths of Asian women as exotic and sexually available. The illustrations draw heavily on sexual symbols. The exhibition also questions the gendering of the Orient through the artists’ perspectives.
Nititham and Pereira pay particular attention to issues of gender and race through their work, drawing on how these issues affect their sense of ‘Oriental’ in their experiences in Ireland and abroad.
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Holly Pereira