Pilar Corrias is pleased to present Soil, Sea & Sound, an online exhibition of new work by the Indigenous CHamoru/Pasifika artist Gisela McDaniel. This body of paintings was begun during the artist’s residency at the Inaugural Art Explora – Cité internationale des Arts in Paris, 2024.
Soil, Sea & Sound builds upon McDaniel’s existing practice of embedding ‘consensual artifacts’ gifted from subject-collaborators which carry direct traces of (their) lived experiences. These objects range from broken or mismatched jewellery, rosary beads to wisdom teeth. Adorning vivid lush backgrounds featuring tropical foliage, McDaniel pairs her subjects and their surroundings with audio excerpts of conversations ‘talking story’ with the artist.
With maternal roots in the northwestern Pacific island of Guam (Guåhan) in Micronesia, McDaniel’s distinctive aesthetic practices are shaped by Oceanic cosmologies, which view natural, supernatural and human entities as interdependent, kindred beings bound together by sacred, enduring obligations and a collective genealogy.
Drawing upon traditional legends which amplify matrilineal CHamoru culture – both ancient and contemporary – this presentation expands McDaniel’s interest in exploring the literal and figurative role which land (soil), sea (via marine life) and sound (talking story) play in understanding the undulating rhythms shaping the contemporary lives and challenges to the identities of Pasifika and non-Pasifika women of colour.
