Miya Turnbull, a visual artist and mask-maker based in Halifax, will present an array of self-portrait masks, photographs and sculpture. Miya creates numerous variations of masks which she then expands in her use of portraiture and video performances exploring the larger themes of self-portraiture and masking. The exhibition titled “Revealed” is ironic as she displays an assortment of life-like photo masks which symbolize, distort and conceal her actual face. However, all the artwork on display all give hints and layers of meaning to her exploration of identity as a mixed Japanese Canadian artist.

https://shintaniartdesign.com/miya-turnbull-revealed
https://www.instagram.com/p/DAwHBM3vmpc/

About Miya

Miya Turnbull (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary visual artist based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, N.S.) and Yonsei (fourth generation Japanese Canadian). She works with many different mediums but is primarily a mask-artist, and new to her practice is performance. She focuses on Self Portraits, using her Photo-Mask technique to make life-like variations and representations of her face, often distorting, erasing or manipulating her image as a way to explore identity.

Miya has exhibited her masks, photos, and video in galleries across Canada as well as the US, Europe and Asia. Most recently, she showed at the Pendulum Gallery in Vancouver, the Nelson Museum, Archives and Gallery, also in B.C., as well as the SEEWELL International Art Center in Fuzhou, China. Also this year she worked with Butoh dancer Emiko Agatsuma (Tokyo), and performed together along with musician Hitoshi Sugiyama (Edmonton) in a 40 minute collaboration called LADDER 梯子, shown in Halifax, N.S. Miya holds a B.F.A from the University in Lethbridge (Alberta) and has been fortunate to receive many grants from the Canada Council for the Arts as well as Arts Nova Scotia.

Artist Statement:

Themes of masking, authenticity, the multiplicity of self, and its fragmentation form the core of my exploration. Drawing inspiration from the multifaceted roles of masks—utilized for disguise, transformation, and protection—alongside their metaphorical significance encompassing persona, archetypes and self-expression, my artistic journey revolves around delving into the intricate layers of identity within the personal and collective sense.

My body of work, which includes many variations of self-portrait masks, and subsequent images of me wearing the masks, stems from my experiences growing up with mixed Japanese and British ancestry. Constantly questioned about who I was and where I was from, solely based on the ambiguity of my facial features, I realized the emphasis and importance placed on the human face, not only for communication and recognition but also as a locus of identity. I’m particularly intrigued by the liminal space between defined margins: the private versus public (what we present to the world versus what we conceal), the dichotomy of ‘beauty’ versus ‘grotesque’ (the shifting or blurring of this boundary), and the complexities of bi-racial identity (embodying duality and ‘in-between-ness’).