Kitty Wales: Drift presents a record of recycled stories of past domestic life. Composed of discarded objects that are altered in the fabricating process, Wales reshapes what we leave behind. This new series of wall works is a collection of theatrical whimsy made specifically for the SPEEDWELL Contemporary gallery space. In the installation Wales references household objects as historical icons, capturing the memories they contain. The crockeries and vessels represent potential utility despite their dented appearance, a credit to the people whose hands held them.

The new series of work included in Drift is partly influenced by the artist’s time spent in the American southwest and Mexico. While visiting Mexico City’s anthropology museum she learned about the miniature painted documents of Mesoamerican codices. “It’s a colorful pictorial language of storytelling within tight frameworks. I loosely borrowed that format of recorded history to inspire these narrative landscapes.”

Along with the wall installations, the exhibition will feature a selection of earlier work by the artist including sculpture, drawings and prints, video, and animatronics. These add to the conversation with this new body of work, including the use of what is left behind through discarded objects and the stories they hold.