KILO KISH
KILO KISH
Interdisciplinary artist and performer Kish Robinson explores personal identity and socio-cultural expectations through works in music, film, installation, and the written word. Her most extensive project is Kilo Kish, a solo music project spanning ten years that has garnered features in Vogue, W Magazine, The New York Times, Pitchfork, Dazed, The Guardian, and Billboard, among others. Her music videos and films have screened at the Getty Center, The Hammer Museum, and the Museum of Image and Sound in Brazil. Kish has exhibited performance and film works with two solo installations at HVW8 Art + Design Gallery in Los Angeles.
DEATH FANTASY, 2022
This song and video serves as the American Gurl album “manifesto” - It’s asking who we are beyond definitions, and beyond who we appear to be to ourselves, and others. “I’ve struggled with this for a long time as I haven’t always fit neatly in any space so this song is actually a declaration of freedom in many ways.” Kilo Kish
As Kish aimlessly runs and writhes around the grounds of a Motel to her eerie and hypnotic song we are offered a glimpse into the self-reflective state Kish has been in. Her album goes through different characters and aesthetics of the American girl as seen in popular culture. This year's exhibition borrows its title and concepts from the American Gurl album.
AYANNA DOZIER
SOFTER, 2020
Softer examines the demands of "softening" that are requested of Black women's bodies in society---from job prospects to romantic ones---be that in their voice, their manners, and, critically, their hair. The experimental short plays upon the grooming rituals of softening that are terrifyingly rough through a recreation of a permanent wave machine produced perm (popular in the 1930s-1950s). The short mediates on the historical ways in which Black women have tried to answer this demand on softness through respectable appearance and behavior.
CHRISTELLE DE CASTRO
JUST SAY, 2022
"Just Say" is a music video directed & produced by de Castro for her best friends, twin musicians, Coco & Breezy. It is a dance-centered film particularly honoring the genre of house. It is a window into Christelle's world, one that is eclectic, soulful, and celebrates the spectrum. This film was self funded by Christelle & the artists and made possible with the contribution of friends, both in front of the camera and behind the lens.
CHRISTINE YUAN
HOYEON AS THE INTERNATIONAL WOMAN OF MYSTERY, 2022
KASEY ELISE WALKER
HOOP DREAMS, 2022
The short film explores the vibrant colors of South LA through the eyes of Savannah Walker, an 8 year-old, African American girl who idolizes her mother’s resilient strength and mystical, golden hoop earrings. Walker's fear of speaking publicly in poetry class leads her to steal her mother's hoops with a belief that they'll help her overcome anything. Ultimately, her mother’s golden hoops transport her into a world beyond her greatest imagination.
KITTY CA$H
KITTY’S WORLD: GETTING TO THE MONEY, 2021
“Getting To The Money” by Kitty Ca$h invites viewers into the artist's mental landscape; through the 3D character, Kitty has an open discourse on achieving the American Dream through financial literacy and hip hop culture. This episode features live action guests featuring Aleali May, Amber Khan, ModernBlkGirl, and Beverly Beal.
LEILA JARMAN
THIS IS MARAWA, 2020
This experimental mini doc is all about Marawa! Marawa is another International girl, her father is Somali, her mother Australian and as a child she lived between Australia, Papa New Guinea and the Middle East. Marawa now lives in Los Angeles, making her an American girl. We live for the multi-hyphenate American girls.
The imagery goes through the gamut of an Americana aesthetic, the 50’s, 70’s and 80’s with a hint of west coast modernism mixed with an acid trip. Leila really captures the energy of the multi faceted and passionate Marawa through the various aesthetic choices and manipulation of footage.
SARAH NICOLE FRANÇOIS
iGURL, 2022
Serving as a commentary on the everchanging “IG Baddie Aesthetic” sublimated in our cultural landscape. The tide for what is deemed attractive is shifting quicker and quicker and the expectation to keep up becomes heavy as technology progresses and social media influence spreads. Simultaneously, the access to change on how we look is instant as a fast food order. For those who relent to the demands of the tides, what are the consequences of these heavy expectations? How is this affecting our collective psyche as we get closer and closer to the Uncanny Valley?
Sarah’s work on first look is provocative and sometimes unsettling. The questions she presents through her work are as relevant as they come. Who is the real Sarah? This is the essence of her work, merging digital spaces with reality.