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Victoria Day first started analyzing her relationships with mirrors during the height of the COVID-19 public health lockdowns when anti-Asian sentiments were on the rise.
“Anyone who has experienced body dysphoria of any kind – whether it’s cultural or not – has this sort of love/hate when it comes to mirrors,” she says, noting that she started simultaneously avoiding mirrors so as not to constantly confront her Korean heritage while also compulsively checking it to analyze herself. “It’s like a vicious circle of making them want to check more.”
With her latest work at the Martha Street Studio in the Exchange District – appropriately titled Two Ways – Day uses screen prints alongside of mirrors to invite audiences to break that cycle of judgement if they so choose, but also to acknowledge them as they move through critique and acceptance of themselves.
The prints that make up the exhibit are made using the ancient Korean art practice of dancheong, a labour-intensive technique which uses geometric patterns and bright colours that mirror themselves within the work. Day created mirrored compositions that are installed in front of each other to highlight the reflective qualities within the works and to invite extra introspection on the part of the audience.
“My hope is always that people will look into it and reflect on the longevity of the practice and also just appreciate the beauty of it,” says Day, “and that in itself is a reflection of positive East Asian culture and positive Korean celebration for people to engage with that’s very specific and something they may not have appreciated before.”
Two Ways also allows Day a safe opportunity to exercise her feelings about her identity – heightened by the racism brought on COVID-19 – without overburdening herself or the audience who comes to see the exhibit. “Everything I make takes a lot of time and that time itself is important,” says Day, noting the role that the creation process has to prepare her for confronting those realities in the first place. “It allows me to reflect on the ideas that I’m working on and ideally prepares me for the very vulnerable moment of showing the work where I do have to discuss it. It is a mixture where making the work is extremely cathartic and showing the work is occasionally uncomfortable, but I think that the value of visual art is that it allows you to communicate things that you might be uncomfortable communicating in other ways.”
Two Ways runs at the Martha Street Studio until October 10. Hours and more information are available at the Martha Street Studio’s website.