Sulfur Kiss
Kori Miles
25
October 2018
25
October
2018
9
November 2018
Gallery 2
This exhibition is informed by recent personal journeys throughout Aotearoa. Over a two month period, I ventured across volcanic terrains, connected with whānau, and reflected on Maori histories and stories. This body of work has a celebratory focus on whakapapa and how it has enlightened me to experience a broader and deeper sense of connectedness. In this work, I use Maui-tikitiki-a-taranga as a catalyst to link familiar queer attitudes and methods like drag, with those of ancient trickster archetypes that are present in Maori myth and legend. For me, this activates a healing process that allows my body and spirit to experience a sense of liberation from colonial and heteronormative binary prisons.
This exhibition is informed by recent personal journeys throughout Aotearoa. Over a two month period, I ventured across volcanic terrains, connected with whānau, and reflected on Maori histories and stories. This body of work has a celebratory focus on whakapapa and how it has enlightened me to experience a broader and deeper sense of connectedness. In this work, I use Maui-tikitiki-a-taranga as a catalyst to link familiar queer attitudes and methods like drag, with those of ancient trickster archetypes that are present in Maori myth and legend. For me, this activates a healing process that allows my body and spirit to experience a sense of liberation from colonial and heteronormative binary prisons.
Kori Miles
Kori is an interdisciplinary and process-based takataapui artist, currently working and living on sacred Wurundjeri land in Naarm/Melbourne. They are of Maaori (Ngaati Raukawa, Ngaati Ahuru, Tainui/Waikato), Italian, Scottish & Anglo-Celtic descent, but born and raised in so-called Australia. They predominantly utilise performance, installation, sculpture, photography, video and poetry as mediums to explore/articulate ideas, knowledge and stories.
Kori’s practice is guided by the stories of Maaui—the trickster demigod of Maaori mythology—and how Maaui’s clever wit combined with the powers of shape-shifting and interdimensional travel are used to undermine structural authority and cause a paradigm shift in power distribution - a social and systemic change that benefits those with less privilege and access. Kori’s practice manifests visions that confront the ongoing damage of colonial and heteronormative social structures, whilst concurrently fostering a space for contemplation on transgression, eroticism, liberation, humour, healing, regeneration and resilience.