If I Were White, I Would Capture the World by Rachel Isabel Mukendi

IF I WERE WHITE, I WOULD CAPTURE THE WORLD.

RACHEL ISABEL MUKENDI, ARTIST/FILMMAKER, CHELSEA, UAL (ALUMNI).

This body of work has continued to change and challenge my perceptions of being black and female and all the challenges that come along with it. I created this body of works to question and challenge the narrative of beauty and whitewashing within the arts. I appropriated the works of John Stezaker because I found his work fascinating yet disturbing because there was a lack of representation, I didn’t see images of black men and women in Hollywood but they existed. My work takes a different approach to body politics and identity, through the constant questioning of these pieces, I have come to a conclusion that these works show how we fit into the natural and urban landscapes, we have a lot of history in the lands where people say we don’t belong, colonialism has played a part in these narratives.

The titles of these pieces are centred around conversations and interviews they’ve had about race and identity and the problems that arise with being on the outside of the white landscapes.