Transcendence

Overview

Nanette Orly curates Transcendence, a new show opening at Firstdraft this month. Drawing together work from Talia Smith, Get to Work, Roberta Rich, Nathan Beard and Dana Davenport, the exhibition explores the premise of blurred cultural identity, investigating "how artists of mixed backgrounds utilise their practices to negotiate and deconstruct their own identities," offering viewers insight into how one can solidify multiple cultural backgrounds to arrive at a place of personal harmony and emotional reconciliation, or "transcendence".

With several interdisciplinary artists featured, you can expect a multiplicity of mediums including video, sculpture and performance. Our pick for the highlight? The collective Get To Work (a trio of artists Georgia Taia, Paris Taia and Tracy Quan) who offer up a humorous, relatable and playful fusion of performance, dance, video, pop culture and Pacific Island traditions to examine social behaviour and identity – ridiculing the stereotyping they frequently experience as artists and culturally diverse women whilst aiming to relieve "the potential pressures, particularly in Australia, to be culturally categorised".

Image: Dana Davenport,  흑인 (heugin) - Black Person, 2015, Image credit: Maria Baranova.