The Record Shop, a mixed media installation by Kevin Ei-ichi deForest

The Record Shop, a mixed media installation by Kevin Ei-ichi deForest
Submitted

On display until June 23 in the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts Gallery, The Record Shop is a multimedia exploration by Kevin Ei-ichi deForest, a Prairie Canadian artist-educator of Japanese and European descent. The Record Shop is an ongoing collection of vinyl record covers that have been modified to explore the representation of hybrid identity, focusing on the artist’s own cultural heritage. For deForest, “these pieces analyze cultural identification, and specifically Asian and Eurasian identity, through a cultural lens of popular music.” He is interested in addressing stereotypes while exploring a range of stylistic approaches and proudly celebrating the complexity of being Eurasian.

deForest is an associate professor at the Department of Visual and Aboriginal Art at Brandon University. Ross Creek’s executive director Chris O’Neill says she is proud to have deForest’s work as part of the 2019 Perceptions gallery program. “Perceptions is our season of exploring multiple cultural identities within the Canadian multicultural model. As Canada grows and changes, we have a wonderful opportunity through the Ross Creek Gallery to see how artists of different cultural backgrounds explore the notions of who they are and where they come from through visual art, and deForest’s work does so with humour and a pop-cultural layer that is exciting.” The Perceptions season is funded in part by the Canada Council for Arts.

The community is welcome to explore the exhibit until its closing on June 23. During this time, in coordination with the gallery exhibit, Ross Creek Centre for the Arts will be offering multicultural, curriculum-based school and group field trips based on deForest’s work.