Kaleigh Blevins
Region: Midwest
My work explores the uncertainty of life through a Black lens. I highlight how absurd the world can feel for Black Americans by taking what can feel familiar and safe, and distorting it. The familiarity stems from my use of imagery from popular culture, such as cartoons, films, famous artworks, and myths and folklore. For many people, these media have offered representation, escapism, or a way to understand the world and bond with others. In my work, I often emphasize uncomfortable aspects of these usually reassuring images, placing them in scarcely filled urban and domestic spaces to interrogate the role they play for the subjects of the paintings and for Black Americans as a whole. My goal is to create a sense of uncomfortable intimacy, as though viewers are unintentionally intruding upon private moments.