Kalia Horner’s thought provoking solo show fills the Welcome Gallery of Summit Artspace on East Market Street, March 7 through April 18.

WELCOME GALLERY HOURS

Summit Artspace’s Welcome Gallery is open weekly Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 7 p.m., and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Additional hours include March 19 and April 16 for 3rd Thursday, 4-7 p.m., and the April 4  for Artwalk, 5-9 p.m.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Throughout this mini series, I drove the focus around issues of body image and sexuality surrounding sexual violence in our culture. Sexual violence is something that has been widely experienced throughout society, and continues to be a serious issue in today’s world. This violence can present itself in numerous ways, many of which can blind a victim from recognizing what constitutes sexual abuse. While sexual abuse can occur between any gender, sex, race, culture, etc. this work in particular embodies my own personal struggles and experiences I have encountered as a young woman. Having battled with the internalization of my past experiences, I know that there are many more individuals out there that are battling with the same fear of speaking out to express themselves as well.

Each painting in this collection includes an image of myself; my own body. While each image appears rather sensual in its poise and color choice, there are also aspects of blurring and color blocking incorporated into the painting to create a disconnect from the entire focus of the image. I wanted to include images solely of myself to become more comfortable viewing and representing my physical form in such a way that is more of a visual rendering of anatomy, rather than objectifying and sexualizing the female form; in this case, MY body. The blurring, blocking and overlapping of color within each image is meant to represent the disconnect I have felt between both my body and sexuality after personal experiences and struggles. Titling this series of work Glitch, I feel, perfectly embodies the gaps or misalignment I have dealt with regarding my self esteem, body image, as well as the relationships built between people after experiencing harm to my body.

Rather than continuing to internalize my past experiences, insecurities, and vulnerability surrounding this issue, I want to share my position on the topic throughout these images to further spark the discussion between others. Our bodies will always be the vessels that hold us together; so we should embrace the hurt brought upon them to better appreciate ourselves for surviving in the bodies we live in today.

ABOUT SUMMIT ARTSPACE

Summit Artspace is a non-profit arts organization that provides studio, exhibit and programming spaces in Summit County and the surrounding area for local artists and arts organizations; and is a center for art education open to all residents. Contact Summit Artspace at 330-376-8480. On the Web at www.summitartspace.org. Find us on: Facebook, Twitter at @AkronAreaArts, Instagram and Snapchat.

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HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE.
ELEVATOR AVAILABLE.

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