The Making of I AM MOTHERLAND with Kalkidan Hoex
Welcome to Day 3 of NYC Jewelry Week! Here on Future Heirloom, we’re celebrating by bringing you special behind-the-scenes content on some of our favorite programs, events, and exhibitions every day this week. Check in each day for a new feature on the happenings at NYC Jewelry Week.
Today, we’re bringing you an exclusive look at a brand new project, I AM MOTHERLAND, from multi-disciplinary artist Kalkidan Hoex, in preparation for an upcoming conversation between Kalkidan Hoex & Sarah Rachel Brown, host of the Perceived Value Podcast. Today, Kalkidan is sharing the story behind I AM MOTHERLAND, stills from the new short film, and more. Keep reading to explore I AM MOTHERLAND and find out more about the upcoming conversation.
I am MOTHERLAND.
“I am MOTHERLAND.
The work I create is strongly linked to how I experience my mixed identity. As I was born in Ethiopia and adopted to the Netherlands. I find myself feeling like I lived in between two worlds. Where these two worlds overlap a third world was created. The objects I make are an expression of how I perceive my third world.
I want to show the realm where the blur of these two worlds exists, as together they create the portal to my third world. My third world creates a surrealistic place that conveys a feeling of culture that does not belong anywhere. Conveying through imagery is how I adapted, conscious and unconscious to both cultures.
I use the in-between world to comprehend my reality and create the illusion that I know where I belong. It serves as my safe space and coping mechanism for the mental fractures endured. I AM MOTHERLAND is about how I ground myself. Motherland is an entity I carry within. Where I find my sense of mother. This world is deeply rooted in representational power and symbolic meaning.”
Kalkidan Hoex on I AM MOTHERLAND
Watch the Trailer for I am Motherland:
I AM MOTHERLAND with Kalkidan Hoex & Sarah Rachel Brown
About the Speakers:
The discussion between Kalkidan Hoex & Sarah Rachel Brown will take place on Sunday, November 21, 2021 from 12:30 PM- 1:30 PM. Learn more about Kalkidan & Sarah below.
Kalkidan Hoex was adopted from Ethiopia and brought up in the Netherlands. In her multi-disciplinary work Hoex examines the pervasive feeling of living between two worlds that has followed her for most of her life. The work speaks directly to those she considers a part of her own identity: youth of mixed descent, who were adopted out of their country or origin or had to flee with their families from their birthplace. Despite the differences in backgrounds and upbringing, she feels that they share common interests and viewpoints.
Sarah Rachel Brown is a contemporary jeweler, facilitator, and podcaster. She is the host and producer of Perceived Value, and currently lives in Philadelphia, PA where she holds down a full-time day job and hustles as a contemporary jeweler on her nights and weekends.
To see more of Kalkidan Hoex’s work, visit her website, The New Tribe and follow her on Instagram @_____k.t.h._____.
To join us for the conversation on Sunday, November 21, 2021 from 12:30 PM- 1:30 PM, RSVP here. The conversation will be live streamed on YouTube, and RSVP is required to access the livestream. Remember to subscribe to NYCJW’s YouTube channel for access to all our content.
Artist statement, film stills and I AM MOTHERLAND trailer courtesy of Kalkidan Hoex. Photography by Mitch van Schijndel. Feature edited and compiled by Future Heirloom Editor Jackie Andrews.