Creating Home/ Ukwakha iKhaya Art & Beats Exhibition
Date: January 20 • 2023
End date: March 9 • 2023
Online: January 27 to March 9, 2023
Paintings and Beats by Cyd Eva, Costa Besta & Brianna Klassen in the Leonore Peyton Salon at Place Des Arts Coquitlam
This exhibition is inspired by my experience leaving home, building a new life in another country and feeling love and connection to nature, land, animals and people in both places. It is about living and loving across the globe and calling two countries home.
As a descendant of European settlers, I was born in so-called Vancouver on the unceded Coast Salish Territories of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and I grew up in Coquitlam on kʷikʷəƛ̓əm land. After completing my studies in Visual Arts at Simon Fraser University in 2017, I went to Johannesburg, South Africa to complete a 2-month artist residency at Assemblage Gallery. During my time there, I met my husband, Costa Besta, who is Zulu from Durban eThekwini Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Over the next 5 years, we lived together and apart in Durban, Vancouver, Cape Town and Coquitlam building our creative partnership. While living together in Cape Town during the pandemic, I started my painting practice again while Costa was creating original music in our shared studio. The inspiration of that time planted the seed for this collection of paintings and beats.
In Zulu, “Ukwakha” means “creating” and “iKhaya” means “home”. Home is not just a place to us, it is the energy and the work one puts into themselves, their relationships with others and the land one lives on. The landscape, animals and nature of South Africa and Canada informed the subject matter for this series, and I combined these natural elements with my colourful graphic pattern illustration style. I collaborated with my long-time friend and fellow artist Brianna Klassen on some of these paintings.
Costa, Brianna and I work together through the creative platform Pattern Nation, our slow fashion brand and artist collective.
The opening night of this exhibition will feature a selection of original beats produced by Costa Besta in South Africa and Canada. A selection of his music is available to listen to on SoundCloud through the QR codes within the exhibition.
Please note: the Leonore Peyton Salon is a multi-purpose space; therefore, viewing times are limited. Please call 604.664.1636 for viewing availability prior to your visit.
