BIO

Kristina Banera is an emerging interdisciplinary artist from Lockport, Manitoba, currently based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She received her Bachelor of Fine Art honours degree at the University of Manitoba.

She has exhibited nationally in galleries, artist run centres and alternative spaces. Her most recent solo projects include time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana (Platform Centre for Photographic & Digital Arts, Winnipeg, MB), Holiday on Ice (video with rotating projection for WUFF 6 in Winnipeg), Entrainment ritual to assemble from missing parts (screened at Platform Shorts, Winnipeg, MB) and Entrainment Loop (Installation for Forthwith Festival, Winnipeg, MB).

Banera’s work has been featured in group shows including Moving Matter (School of Art Gallery University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB), CLUES (Duplex, Vancouver, BC), Anticipating Distance (Avenue Gallery, Vancouver, BC), NO VACANCY (One Night Stand/Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge), JUNKHAUS 1: Sublime Consumer Minimalists (Junkhaus) (Media Hub, Winnipeg), and BACKYARD (C Space, Winnipeg).

ARTIST STATEMENT

In my current practice I have explored the ideas and psychology of space dually physical and metaphysical, while examining the relationships that inhabit these spaces. Important to this investigation is the effect that time and distance have on these relationships and ourselves, resulting in complex associations. While my work is highly subject specific, the final result is a diffuse, refracted view from it’s point of origin.

The process of creating the work relies heavily upon personal histories, reminiscence and correspondence. These processes enable me to work through my desires to arrive at an uncertain resolution. The investigation of time and personal history tethers my work to the past. Through photography, installation, sculpture and digital media, I explore internal dialogues and confront my desire for resolution, often hinging on narratives of repression. I use digital media as a tool to articulate and aestheticize voids, time and distance through the representation of memory.

By drawing focus to the existence or absence of communication between the viewer and myself, I am attempting to create a sense of unease that is reflected in the work’s reception. Visually, my work considers colour, texture, and space to convey the notion of the subconscious and mental space as aesthetic form. These forms act as a visual, meditative resting point that allows the viewer to contemplate their space in a deeper way.