Reclamation: Working with the found image

How can recontextualizing found images through our art practices be a tool of empowerment?

This workshop will explore how the reclamation of found images in art practice can be used to tell new and meaningful narratives. Throughout the workshop, we will think about the source of particular images, and how to critically engage with and think about found material. We will also focus on how the use of found images can be utilized to go against problematic historical narratives in an effort to reassert our agency and expand notions of identity.

There will be a presentation on a variety of photo-based artists that use found images in their practice followed by a discussion and reflection on the importance of found/archival imagery and the ethics of using them. Participants are invited to bring found images they want to work with or are currently working with for concept building or collective feedback.

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Instructor Bio:

Karice Mitchell (b. 1996, Toronto, Canada) is a photo-based installation artist whose practice uses found imagery and digital manipulation to engage with issues relating to the representation of the Black female body in pornography and popular culture. Her work seeks to re-contextualize pre-existing images to reimagine the possibilities for Black womanhood and sexuality detached from the white gaze and patriarchy. She received her BFA at York University in 2019 and her MFA at the University of Waterloo in June 2021. She currently resides on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people where she is a full-time lecturer at the University of British Columbia Vancouver campus.

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Image Caption:

Karice Mitchell, take care II (detail), 2022