Kriss Munsya | The Love Below
- Kriss Munsya
- "The Love Below"
- Highway Reflection - The Eraser
- 2020
- C-print framed with UV glass
- 43.75x35 in.
- Ed. of 3 + AP
The Eraser Series
The Eraser juxtaposes experiences of the past with desires of the future. It is a story of change and transformation that centers a Black man revisiting experiences that have been normalized in critical reflection of internalized supremacy. Things that at the time he thought were normal now have new meaning and he wants to share the lessons within.
With The Eraser, he aims to translate his experiences into invitations to reflect on the impacts of supremacy.This project reflects critically on the past to inform transformational offerings for the future. As the protagonist revisits memories to re-imagine his past, he tries to erase the dominance of whiteness by transposing Blackness. However, memory is not easy to manipulate! Digging into the past always brings up unexpected things. With that, it imagines creative reclamations of space.
Highway Reflection
When he was 6 years old, his family went on a road trip to Germany. They stopped at a really low budget motel on the highway. He remembers he couldn’t sleep that night because of the sound of cars. The next day, his father and him played soccer in the parking lot while his sister and mother hung out on the grass.
At one point, the ball got away and rolled toward the fence separating them from the highway. On the other side of the highway, he could see a hotel. But that one was a fancy one. He could see rich white families in the pool. He remembers the patio was full of flowers. He was really jealous, and maybe a bit mad at his parents for choosing there they were staying.
He wanted to be on the other side of the highway.
It took him years to understand that he was exactly where he was supposed to be.
Now that he’s older, he’s trying to reclaim the past he never had. He’s trying to change his memories to change his future. But digging the past always brings up unexpected things.