Justice Takes a Holiday
Mona Sharma
January 17th to February 22nd 2014
Opening reception January 17th 2014 @ 8 PM. The artist will be in attendance and giving an artist talk at 7:30 PM.
Sharma’s exhibition will be a series of narrative drawings that will be projected large-scale on the wall and also appearing on screen on a small monitor within the gallery space. Justice Takes a Holiday is a series of graphic drawings aimed at widening our perceptions of justice/injustice in the hopes of encouraging a more open discourse around change. It examines instances throughout history, both micro and macro in nature, where the concept of justice has been stretched to some interesting, if not bizarre lengths. And when we understand just how fluid and pervasive that concept can be, we can better envision an active role within it.
Mona Sharma
As a Montrealer whose family emigrated from India in the early 80s, the duality of my cultural background has maintained as a crucial inspiration in my practice. In a broad sense my work has evolved into an investigation of ownership in terms of identity. It does not only deal with seizing control over who we are, but it also examines the circumstances in which we relinquish that control. It is about erecting characters and backdrops which reveal, mislead and build towards a golden moment when viewers realize their role in shaping, supporting or suppressing those around them. By presenting specific investigations into both personal and broader historical events, I hope to encourage a more critical understanding of how we form as individuals and how we function as a society. Presently, my work manifests itself in graphic illustration and soft sculpture, two mediums whose accessible exteriors lend themselves well to subversive acts.
