Art Now: Let The Sunshine In

Let the sunshine in presents a series of new works by Shawanda Corbett created for the Art Now space. Her practice is framed by an expanded vision of cyborg theory, which encompasses ‘anything mechanical that’s used to enhance someone’s life’. Cyborg theory: the adequacy of tenderness to our antipathy is Corbett’s first film work. Informed by our shared experience of the pandemic, the film documents a dance performance set to a jazz score written by the artist. Corbett then created a set of ceramic vessels based on the performers, representing aspects of the characters they portray.  Together, the film and ceramics are moving between reality, perceived reality, and stages of the subconscious. 

 

Corbett states that ‘Cyborg theory: the adequacy of tenderness to our antipathy explores the perspective of a cyborg’s conscious and subconscious throughout the day. It addresses how trauma takes place where love should be, and how the body recalls coldness instead of warmth in its movement. The cyborg is double-visioned, a person of colour with a hybrid identity, which impacts how they experience and remember events. The dancers represent shared aspects of our personalities, nurtured in each scene by environments that highlight vulnerability in the most sustained way. It is impossible to understand vulnerability and freedom within our bodies without remembering the journey. And that journey is self-love’.