Sherwin Ovid
My work takes the form of mixed-media paintings that reflect the
dynamic interplay of materials and address cultural transmission
across national boundaries. Visual composites of parlor interiors,
Delftware, and depression and carnival glass are forged through
material curiosity. Objects commonly found in domestic spaces
are symbolic references to class aspiration, fusing ornament
and heirloom into hybrid sites of desire. A mélange of narrative
idioms underpins a diverse collection of poured skins, digitized
images, textiles, and sculpted foam. A transnational vernacular is
reflected in the paintings’ paradoxical display of inherited colonial
histories and the cultural memory of black resistance. Applying
a spectrum of transparent materials to dark grounds poses
questions on the nuances of visibility and its operative reliance on
and distinction within blackness. The porous designations of race,
class, and cultural difference are central to this exploration of the
enigmatic space between immigration and assimilation.
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