Focal Point Gallery are delighted to be participating We Are Invisible, We Are Visible (WAIWAV) presented by DASH, the disabled led visual arts organisation.
On 2 July 2022, 31 Disabled artists will disrupt 30 locations with surreal interventions, in recognition of the 102nd anniversary of the first Dada International Exhibition. Dada is dead. Long live Dada!
At Focal Point Gallery, Kristina Veasey will present A Complete Basket Case, a series of screenings and a performance to transmit playful provocations, absurd artist activity and hard facts that challenge rhetoric about disabled people during Covid times. Kristina will hijack Big Screen Southend, and be in situ in the gallery entrance, weaving baskets from electric fence wire, communication cables and fragile tape, whilst chatting to visitors and inviting them to both share their own lockdown experiences and to reflect on the barriers they are weaving through, as they emerge into this ‘new normal’.
Screenings and performances will take place throughout the day between 11.00am and 5.00pm. Full schedule to be announced.
Kristina Veasey is a visual artist with a socially engaged practice, bringing bold, complex, and sensitive layers to her artworks, cushioning difficult conversations and painful truths within humorous and joyous celebrations. As a disabled woman and activist, intersectionality, identity, and social politics are strong components in her work, and she is often influenced by the barriers she faces. Using art as a force for change, she draws on her background as a Social Policy graduate, a Paralympian, and equality and diversity consultant, leading her to create work that is easily accessible, engaging wide audiences, and amplifying unheard voices. Kristina’s work is playful and provocative. She loves colour, vibrancy and turning things on their head. Through installation, film, and sculpture she explores the commonalities and differences in everyday experiences.
“My practice tends to focus on how we relate to the world and people around us. This might include the everyday routines, the historical or cultural context we find ourselves in, or the physical and political landscapes we navigate. I am interested in the commonalities and differences in experience; the things that bind us and divide us. I like to focus in on the minutiae and detail; and explore the building blocks of our identities, how that informs our place in the world, and how it influences our behaviours and our relationships with others. I like to encourage people to stop and think and open themselves up to new perspectives.”