An exhibition exploring double consciousness, ego dissolution, and identity through sculpture painting and video
KA: The Illusion of Being
An exhibition by Calvin Brett
Through sculpture, painting, and video, KA: The Illusion of Being explores the tension of self, spirit, and perception. The exhibition traces a process of ego dissolution and social self-reflection, drawing inspiration from W.E.B. Du Bois’s concept of double consciousness, the Buddhist idea of no self, and the ancient egyption concept of the KA .
At its center is KA — a wooden sculpture hand sanded for six months, carried through the streets of Santa Fe, New Mexico while homeless transformed into a cross, then from seven-foot boards into a small, dead bird-like form, represents the process of humiliation and what’s left after. The act of sanding was both a ritual of erasure of physical wood and childish ego. The Surrounding works extend this process — sea-shell and mirror masks exploring the emotional states of identity crisis, a shattered mirror assemblage, an abstract self-portrait, and a projection of video selfies recorded over four months in different contexts, hair, and outfits. Together they chart the shifting tension between external image and internal awareness, illusion and being.
BIO:
Calvin Brett born 1990 Brooklyn, NY maintains his creative practice in North Carolina. His work has been collected by North Carolina Central’s Art Museum. While a student at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, his work was exhibited in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and he’s exhibited at Marble’s Children Museum. Calvin has completed installations at MIT’s Museum, Elsewhere Museum, The Fruit, Lump, The Scrap Exchange and Warehouse 21. Brett has served on Durham, NC’s Public Art Committee. He is a Loghaven Fellow and a Southern Foodways Alliance, Do Good Fellow. He’s completed residencies at Perkins + Will Durham and the Chautauqua Institution.
