Laura Lewis
Home: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Title: Malaikah in Ostrich Feathers
Media: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 183 x 153 cm
Instagram: @lalauralewis
ARTIST STATEMENT
Malaikah In Ostrich Feathers is a portrait of my friend Malaikah Rang’inya, a multidisciplinary performance artist whose work explores relational aesthetics through interactive public performances, installations, poetry, ritual and decorative arts. For this portrait, Malaikah was given free rein to express herself authentically, and chose to wear an ostrich feather garment, her Bantu knots, and magenta lipstick. The final, larger-than-life portrait captured the vibrant, deeply saturated colors that showcased her personality. In response to the portrait, Malaikah wrote, “Seeing myself painted larger than life was both jarring and exhilarating. The painting freezes an intense part of my personality, causing me to confront myself in a way I can’t escape. It’s a bit uncomfortable but also empowering, knowing what others see when engaging with this confident version of myself.”
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Laura Lewis is a visual artist originally from Kjipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia) currently based in Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). Her conceptual figurative painting practice explores philosophical questions concerning psychosexuality, the multiplicities of self, and nuances of the human condition. Informed by her technical understanding of colour theory, her works oscillate between broad gestural brushstrokes and finely rendered detail which are metaphors for the construction of identity, conveying a sense of figurative fluctuation or “in-betweenness”.