The Bald Eagles Claw

Josi Smit

CV Contact

The Bald Eagle’s Claw
Xpace Cultural Centre, Curated by Philip Leonard Ocampo
July 5, 2019 - August 3, 2019
Yan Wen Chang, Brandon Fujimagari, Andrew Harding, Josi Smit

Exhibition Text: read here

It was almost like you were there. I could hear you, I could see you, smell you. I could hear your voice. Sometimes your voice would wake me up. It would wake me up in the middle of the night, just like you were in the room with me.
Barcelona chair frames, Italian chrome etagere, vintage charm bracelet, topstitched vinyl, vertical blinds mechanism, lace, tulle, nickels, zip ties.
2019

“Josi Smit employs materials reminiscent of aspirational possessions relating to the “American Dream” in It was almost like you were there… Her tulle blinds reference prom dresses; vinyl invoking the image of Cadillac upholstery is used to sew a rug. Through her fabricated objects and fusing two replica Barcelona chairs and a 1970s Italian chrome etagere, the space can only suggest multiple interpretations of what it could be. It draws upon the interior design of a living room but it is non-functional and hyper condensed. It could be a public landmark if it looked less like a domestic, private space. Each component is separated from their original function, creating an aggregate, alien form. They cannot fulfill the promise of their respective references and original functionality, and instead, exist together as many things but nothing at the same time.” - Philip Leonard Ocampo

Resident of Uncey-le-Franc
Enamel pins, crushed velvet, fringe trim.
2017

“A large rectangular piece of black velvet hangs in the back of the space, Resident of Uncey-le-Franc is reminiscent of a monolith, a geological feature popularized by its feature in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Subject to countless interpretations, the monolith exists as an enigma that encompasses space and time. Its subjective nature ignores our scientific efforts to understand outer space and instead embraces itself as a mystic anomaly. Resembling a starscape, over 200 enamel pins of objects relating to Americana iconography (fast food brands, liquor bottles, and cigarette packs) that Josi Smit has acquired are hand pinned to the textile. Previously belonging to a single, anonymous person, the scattered ephemera embodies a lived experience, focusing on a personal subjectivity instead of the consumerist influence its pictorial symbols usually represent. Their capitalist power is rendered inconsequential as they float throughout a universe” - Philip Leonard Ocampo