Backra Bluid: Hybrid Identity

Stacey Tyrell exhibits provocative images of her “white” self at General Hardware Contemporary as part of the 2014 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.

Stacey Tyrell, Ismay, 42yrs, from Backra Bluid series, 2012

General Hardware Contemporary:

In Backra Bluid, Brooklyn-based photographer Stacey Tyrell portrays herself as a white woman by altering her skin colour and making subtle tweaks to her features. Backra is archaic Caribbean slang of West African origin that means “white person.” Bluid is the Scotch word for blood, as well as for kin. In this series Tyrell draws on her own family history—archaic and ongoing, Scottish and Caribbean—to explore how identities complicate and overlap. Critical of the dualism inherent in Eurocentric constructs of Whiteness and Blackness, Tyrell’s work suggests that most people in post-colonial societies are not easily categorized. Developed through fictitious avatars and dramatic sets, her approach privileges performance and theatricality.

Image of the artist, http://www.staceytyrell.com/about/  

Stacey Tyrell:

The images in the series are an attempt to interpret and explore these relatives from both past and present that I know are out there. They are also a reflection on my own perceptions and preconceptions of “Whiteness.” There is a dualism that is inherent in the Euro-centric constructs of “Whiteness” and “Blackness” in Western societies. It leaves little room for the reality that the majority of people in post-colonial societies are generally hybrids of its past and current inhabitants. Upon viewing my physical features, I am automatically assigned a racial identity by whoever is looking at me. Skin color often obscures and over-rides the features and markers of other races that may be present in my genetic make-up. By simply changing my skin color and making subtle tweaks to my features, I wish to show that if someone were to take a closer look at my face, they would see that it might not be that much different from their own.   

Stacey Tyrell, Mara, 17yrs, from Backra Bluid series, 2011

Backra Bluid

April 26 to May 17

Opening: April 26, 3 to 6 p.m.

General Hardware Contemporary

1520 Queen Street W.

Toronto, ON M6R 1A4

http://www.staceytyrell.com/

http://generalhardware.ca/stacey-tyrell/

http://scotiabankcontactphoto.com/events/1742