2007
In this work I offer my audience a gift in the form of helium filled balloons. The balloons are printed with images of African masks. Once inflated the balloons will become distorted and manipulated, altering the original drawing of the masks. Gallery visitors enter in the space, like tourists in a market place, and leave with something, in this case the distorted balloons. The gesture of gift giving and the sale of cultural artifacts become exposed. The balloon acts as a gift and an artifact but also as a souvenir. The liminal space that these objects are caught between opens up a dialogue on ideas of cultural appropriation. Is this ephemeral object oppressive or productive in a culture’s well-being? Can it be representative of an “authentic” African object, before or after it is inflated?