Aug 31 - Sept 29 | Nina K Ekman x Catherine Ruane : Guardians of the Desert
Artworks
Vita Kari
Tila Tequila’s Day Off
2024
Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro, Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones, acrylic lucite rods, brushed aluminum
60” x 80”
$4,500
Vita Kari
IHAVE A CRUSH (On Myself)
2024
Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro, Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones, acrylic lucite rods, brushed aluminum
40” x 60”
$3,800
Vita Kari
Planet Baby (Venus)
2024
Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro,
Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones, Wood, LED Lights
40” x 60”
$3,200
Vita Kari
Call Me Daddy (Jupiter)
2024
Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro,
Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones, Wood, LED Lights
40” x 50”
$3,500
Vita Kari
Gay Awakening (Self Portrait)
2024
Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro, Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones, acrylic lucite rods, brushed aluminum
30” x 80”
$2,500
Vita Kari
My Grandmother’s American Dream Was A Pink Miami Dream House
2024
Foam, Acrylic Paint, Rhinestones, Acrylic Plastic, Mixed Media, Wood
5” x 5” x 5”
$1,000 each (includes the pedestal and rotating display)
Vita Kari
My Grandmother’s American Dream Was Blue
2024
Foam, Acrylic Paint, Rhinestones, Acrylic Plastic, Mixed Media, Wood
5” x 5” x 5”
$1,000 each (includes the pedestal and rotating display)
Vita Kari
My Grandmother’s American Dream Had Patterns from Her Home
2024
Foam, Acrylic Paint, Rhinestones, Acrylic Plastic, Mixed Media, Wood
5” x 5” x 5”
$1,000 each (includes the pedestal and rotating display)
Vita Kari
My Grandmother’s American Dream Was Chrome
2024
Foam, Acrylic Paint, Rhinestones, Acrylic Plastic, Mixed Media, Wood
5” x 5” x 5”
$1,000 each (includes the pedestal and rotating display)
Vita Kari
My Grandmother's American Dream Was Vegas Themed
2024
Foam, Acrylic Paint, Rhinestones, Acrylic Plastic, Mixed Media, Wood
5” x 5” x 5”
$1,000 each (includes the pedestal and rotating display)
Vita Kari
Recession Pop
2024
Archival Frutiger Metro, Digitally painting, Woven Jacquard rug?
94.5'’ x 34.6‘’
$1,800
Vita Kari
The Strip
2024
Archival Frutiger Metro, Digitally painting, Woven Jacquard rug
58"x77"
$2,800
Artist Statement + Exhibitions
I take cues from early reality dating shows, grappling with how the
hyperpersonal blurs into the public domain. My recent work focuses on Tila Tequila—a 2000’s queer cyber-celebrity who took VH1 by storm with her infamous bisexual reality dating show, “A Shot Of Love,” only to fall victim to the alt-right pipeline years later. I trace her golden years through adorned and hand-painted textiles, pulling imagery from the optimistic internet aesthetic, Frutiger Metro, that echoed through “A Shot Of Love’s” era.
Sharing the lived experience of becoming a cultural virus, otherwise known as a meme, I reference images of my body alongside Tila Tequila’s within these textiles. This blending of our identities and stories highlights the parallels between our experiences while also critiquing the ephemeral nature of internet fame.
Through textile works, I invite guests to transition between their domestic, private and public bodies. Reimagining, recreating and unraveling my grandmother's rugs, I aspire to elicit narratives of diaspora, family, and memory through a hyper-feminine queer lens. This exhibition seeks to disrupt and reflect upon the nature of self-presentation and identity in a digitally interconnected world.
My work is a dialogue between the past and present, exploring the
intersections of identity, memory, and the public gaze. It invites viewers to question how we navigate between the personal and the collective.