Shoshanna Weinberger Artist Statement
Nationality:
Jamaican-American
Medium:
Sculpture • Installation • Drawing • Mixed Media • Fiber • Found Objects
Key Themes:
Identity • Race • Memory • History • Representation • Body • Culture • Belonging
My work explores the complex relationships between identity, history, and representation. I am
interested in how personal and collective experiences shape the ways bodies are seen,
understood, and remembered. Through sculpture, installation, and mixed media, I examine the
cultural meanings attached to the human form, particularly how ideas of race, beauty, gender,
and belonging influence perceptions of identity.
The body is central to my practice. I use exaggerated forms, fragmented figures, and hybrid
structures to question traditional representations of human appearance and to explore the
psychological and emotional experiences connected to visibility and difference. By altering
familiar forms, I create spaces where identity becomes fluid, layered, and open to interpretation
rather than confined by established narratives.
My work draws from personal history, Caribbean heritage, popular culture, and social histories
of representation. I am fascinated by the ways images, objects, and symbols carry inherited
meanings and how these meanings continue to shape contemporary experiences. Through the
combination of cultural references and imagined forms, I investigate the connections between
ancestry, memory, and the construction of identity.
Material plays an important role in my artistic process. I combine unconventional materials,
textures, and sculptural elements to create works that feel both familiar and unfamiliar. The
contrast between softness and distortion, attraction and discomfort, allows me to explore the
complexity of human experience and the tensions between how individuals see themselves and
how they are perceived by others.
Colour, surface, and form become visual languages through which I examine visibility and
representation. My installations invite viewers to confront assumptions about the body and
consider the histories embedded within physical appearance. By creating figures that exist
between reality and imagination, I challenge fixed definitions and encourage broader
understandings of identity.
Ultimately, my practice is an exploration of the body as a site of memory, culture, and
transformation. Through sculpture and installation, I aim to create works that question inherited
narratives, reveal overlooked experiences, and encourage deeper conversations about identity,
belonging, and the diverse ways human stories are represented.
