Kay Shah presents a new solo exhibition that delves into their relationship with culture and identity, examining and redefining the cultural landscape through liminal environments; investigating space as a metaphor to explore bi-cultural identity from an intercultural perspective, offering a narrative for introspection, transition, and transformation.
The narrative of this exhibition leads with environments, inhabited by abstract shapes, to elicit pensive contemplation. These spherical forms later become in motion and suspended, not bound or fixated, thus allowing them to be non-directional and evoke ethereal qualities to represent beings from an alternate world. These settings become a self-constructed reaction to the alienation felt through navigating between two worlds, forming a unique re-imagined space that blurs the lines between the real and perceived realities.
Imbued with a sense of silence to create meditative conditions, these spaces encourage the audience to enter a state of contemplation and reflection. Spherical forms that are abstract in nature, void of any social identity, act as a vessel for the viewer to objectively integrate and project themselves, stimulating a deeper understanding of our own self.
Tessellation, derivative of motifs from Islamic history, implies infinity and the ongoing possibilities of extended external spaces, while the architectural use of stairs and archways serves as extensions to liminality and the prospect of transition and transformation. These apertures are also indicative of Shah’s looming thoughts that reside in the unconscious, the subtle reminders and questions around their internal cultural origin.
Exhibition Playlist
Kay Shah has curated a playlist to coincide with the exhibition, follow the link here to listen.
About Kay Shah
Kay Shah (b.1994) is a British-Pakistani multidisciplinary artist from Manchester who graduated in 2017 with a BA in Fine Art, from MSOA. In 2020, Shah was shortlisted for one of the Manchester Open Awards in HOME’s first major open-call exhibition. Selected Exhibitions include Beyond Landscapes, Saul Hay Gallery, Manchester (2022); Talking Sense, The Portico Gallery, Manchester (2020); State of the Arts, Selfridges, The Trafford Centre (2019).
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