ARTIST: Jai
DATE: 2024
MEDIUM: Acrylic paint, appliqué and beads on fabric
‘Where we are says a lot about the journey we have travelled and continue to travel. This is about hope, curiosity and wanting to explore what life has to offer. Through my struggles I have built relationships, friendships that have given me hope. I have created my identity and learnt to dream again.
This is not just about my history, it’s about how I see myself now and about my whole journey, how I continue to walk. My work is a collage, layers that have built and shaped me. The grey sheer layer is the traumas that I have experienced within the family and through homelessness, they cast a shadow over me for a long time. And the birdcage represents the systems and agencies that are meant to help me. In one sense they have supported me, but they were also at some point a hindrance as well, keeping me in the cycle of homelessness and stopping me from moving forward.
In order to continue growing, I needed to break free from the cage and see beyond the shadows of my traumas to find the gems and jewels that are actually present; all the opportunities that life could give me. On the second layer of the banner, the colours are the vibrance and contrast of my life. It is a celebration of who I am today, of hope, courage and strength. If you look closely, you can see charms that have been sewn in. They are little details that remind me of all the parts that make me who I am. There are aspects of my identity that I have been reluctant to acknowledge, like my cultural heritage – represented with an elephant, my adoption – shown through all the coloured beads, my hearing disability – shown through the musical notes, and a dream catcher that shows that I have dreams now.’
– Jai