We are Shadows

PDF catalogue (4.5MB)

We are Shadows is a Unit 2 commission. Unit 2 is located opposite what could be considered to be the East End's most famous street, Brick Lane. This area of the East End is renowned for having become, at various times, home to various generations of immigrants - from Huguenots and Irish to Jewish and more recently Bangladeshi communities, also possess a rich history relating food markets and the clothing industry. For me, this location represents something of a fascination because I myself migrated from Macedonia to Britain in the early 1990s and encapsulates many of the ideas central to Vasileva's practice: food, migration, cultural identity, memory and history. Therefore, all too aware that below the surface of what is frequently celebrated as a 'multi-cultural' environment exists histories and lives of communities imbued with the realities of loss, struggle, conflict and survival.

The galleries source of daylight is a window onto the street which has been fully covered with rice, the light filters through the grain and highlights the texture and grain structure. The large 'veil' structure, created out of halal chicken skins, is suspended from the ceiling using a daul and fishing line. There are exudations and odour, the skins have a translucency and play with light that creates shadows. In many ways, the materials used in this new work have become familiar, if somewhat clichéd or reductive, symbols associated with Britain's Asian communities. Rather than multifarious, individual binaries are often created whereby, on the one hand, the Asian community (as that found living and working in and around Brick Lane) is often portrayed as an epitome of Britain's 'multi-cultural' identity - chicken curry having being described as symbolising modern day British culture. On the other hand, religion and associated practices and beliefs (most notably the wearing of the veil), are often viewed with suspicion and seen as conflicting with a notion of a 'British way of life'. Whilst offering no answers, I aim to make a contemplative work, which whilst engaging with familiar symbols relating to this locale, carefully side steps easy or sensationalist stereotypes, offering instead something more respectful and experiential.

A free illustrated brochure with an essay by Alison Wilding accompanies this exhibition.

Thanks to Abdul Malik from PAK butchers where without his sponsorship and help this commission would not been possible.