'Queer Flower' by Kavel Rafferty

Mixed-media artist Kavel Rafferty, who uses found materials to make her assemblaged and collaged artworks, has announced her first ever solo show - ‘Queer Flower’ - to take place in Islington, London at the White Conduit Project Gallery from July 20-25, 2021. The show’s artworks examine artistic tropes of flowers and floral still life, exploring ideas of remembrance, censorship and queerness - both in the modern LGBTQ+ community sense, as well as the original meaning of queerness as something out-of-the-ordinary or peculiar.

‘I subvert photographic copies of flowers, taken from found flower arranging books and second-hand postcards, by redacting them with ink and collage’ Kavel Rafferty explained. ‘Sometimes I block out the details and delicacy of the flowers completely, using ink brush marks to create shadows and silhouettes - denoting a singular absence of light to create a permanent record of the space the flowers once occupied. Vivid pops of colour counterbalance this, making the flowers seem alien and strange.’

A Queer Perspective
Kavel Rafferty also commented on the inclusion of images of women in her work, often used, as in this series, alongside the images of flowers. ‘As a queer woman, I am very conscious of how I portray women in my work. I am interested in the female gaze and in messing with context. By combining images of women and flowers, I play with the objectification and over-sexualized images of women and aim to challenge stereotypes by cutting and painting source materials.’