Artist Brief: Yuki Kihara
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Yuki Kihara is an award-winning interdisciplinary curator, writer, researcher, and artist selected by New Zealand to represent the country in a pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Yuki is the first artist from New Zealand to present at the Biennale who is Pasifika, Asian, and Fa’afafine.
Yuki Kihara was born in 1975 to a Japanese father and Samoan mother. She spent her childhood traveling between Japan, Indonesia, Samoa, and New Zealand. At the age of 15, Kihara moved to Wellington, New Zealand to further her studies and be trained in fashion design. Yuki identifies as a fa’afafine, or person of third gender in Samoa.
Kihara has, for some time, been exploring the ‘de-humanizing’ effects of colonialism, post-colonialism, and other exclusionary frameworks. Whether in Fale Aitu (House of Spirits) – 2003, Vavau (Tales of Ancient Samoa) – 2004, or Shigeyuki Kihara: Living Photographs – 2005, Yuki has engaged personally in her art not only to challenge but to grapple with ‘the politics of personal self and identity’ by appropriating and deconstructing found images.1
But it was in 2008-2009 that Kihara found international acclaim as both a multimedia and performance artist, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art presented Shigeyuki Kihara: Living Photographs. In that exhibit, which resulted in the museum making a purchase, Yuki reworked a number of materials made by
non-indigenous peoples to reveal errors and bias.2
It was also during that exhibit that Kihara found the seeds for what would become, some 14 years later, Paradise Camp, New Zealand’s entry in the 2022 Venice Biennale, curated by Natalie King. Undertaking meticulous research, Kihara was able to demonstrate the previously undiscovered connection between Gauguin, Samoa, and the Fa’afafine community.
Anchoring the exhibition are 12 photographs, which ‘upcycle’ specific Gauguin paintings. What Kihara means by ‘upcycling’ is “doing something original to improve it.”3
In Paradise Camp, Kihara challenges the notion of paradise as being 'heteronormative' by drawing upon Sontag's notion of 'camp' as being 'playful' and embodying 'the spirit of extravagance.' The result is wonderful.
Above:
Yuki Kihara
Photo: Luke Walker
Courtesy of:
Yuki Kihara and Milford Galleries,
Aotearoa New Zealand.
Left:
Paradise Camp
Courtesy of:
Creative New Zealand.
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Visit:
https://yukikihara.ws/