Martine Syms

“Martine Syms has earned wide recognition for a practice that combines conceptual grit, humor and social commentary. Using a combination of video, installation and performance, often interwoven with explorations into technique and narrative, Syms examines representations of Blackness and its relationship to vernacular, feminist thought, and radical traditions. Syms’s research-based practice frequently references and incorporates theoretical models concerning performed or imposed identities, the power of the gesture, and embedded assumptions concerning gender and racial inequalities.”

Syms’ work holds a significant place in my research specifically in relation to Black femme representation and costuming. She assumes personas, creates digital avatars, and uses her own embodiment as a character in her work.

Her series, Kita’s World is featured in the Video Viewing Room.mov collection.