Seek: And you may not necessarily find
‘Seeing life as a weave, this pattern (pretense, say) is not always complete and is varied in a multiplicity of ways. But we, in our conceptual world, keep on seeing the same, recurring with variations. That is how our concepts take it. For concepts are not for use on a single occasion.’1
Cultural identity is fluid and always evolving, but the degree of freedom of each individual depends upon the extent that each sees themselves as a free subject, rather than a defined object. For those of us with the privilege to live in a post-cultural society, the ideal is ambiguous and individual identity is not defined by race, gender or cultural background. When an attempt is made to define and categorise, certain freedoms are suppressed. Katina Davidson’s works in her exhibition ‘Seek: and you may not necessarily find’, offer a critical examination of current societal understandings of cultural identity through personal reflection.
As the title suggests, Davidson’s works present a search for understanding that is not immediately gained, and may never be entirely so. Representing this continuous pursuit, her works present a study of various contrasting components; parts which do not necessarily form a whole. The contrasting components reveal tensions in multiple ways: the works physically embody oppositions through their use of different mediums as well as their different methods of construction. Many of the works integrate both stitching and painting, such as Flee, which presents a contemporary landscape, delicately painted by freehand on Belgian linen (as opposed to a white canvas), then dressed in an overlay of intricate and meticulously calculated stitch work forming tessellated patterns.
Davidson identifies as a young Murri woman,2 with
Katina Davidson, Studies of the periphery, Untitled 2, 2014. Detail.
