Surface by Kira Young

EXHIBITION UPDATE

Due to the fact that events cannot run longer than two weeks on Facebook, we need to let you know that Surface runs until 6pm this Sunday 4 March. We are open daily from 10am until 6pm.

The Laneway Artspace is honoured to be able to present Kira Young’s ‘Surface’ as a highlight of our Summer/Autumn 2018 Season.

‘Kira’s searing, impatient, unsentimental and profound exploration of invisible disability and gender is a timely and important work of art,’ said Geoffrey Williams, Founding Artistic Director of The Laneway Artspace. ‘This is an important conversation, and one I am very proud to be presenting as a part of our Summer/Autumn 2018 Season. Bewildering and invisible pain, and the many and varied ways we experience and cope (or not) with it, is such a taboo subject. I expect Kira’s extraordinary installation of photographic prints, sound and the printed word, will challenge all of our visitors to begin (or continue) to consider these powerful personal and direct experiences in a new light.’

In Kira’s words …

‘Surface’ explores the inaccurate nature of outward perception through the mediums of photography, sound and text.

In considering the nexus between the medical gaze and the male gaze in relation to the ‘female’ body, this series uncovers the role that gender bias plays in the stigmatisation of Fibromyalgia and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) – otherwise known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – both conditions I suffer from.

The photographs represent fragmented bodies and highlight areas of pain associated with these conditions. A soundscape, composed in collaboration with Ben Keene, represents my internal reality – exploring symptoms such as pain, disorientation and fatigue.

Finally, a collection of interviews detailing the experience of others living with Fibromyalgia and ME provide a varied and subjective insight into the physical implications of illness – highlighting the emotional weight that stigma places on sufferers.

In illuminating how perception and misconception shapes the lives of sufferers, I am combating the silence surrounding these illnesses, urging others to listen, believe and understand.’

‘Surface’ runs from Friday 16 February to Sunday 4 March, daily from 10am–6pm.

The Laneway Artspace is proud to be fully accessible.

Image: Hands (detail). © 2018 Kira Young. All rights reserved.