Exhibitions
SAI CLAYTON: HĀFU
Random Sample / 407 48th Ave. N May 5, 2023 - May 29, 2023
Random Sample is pleased to present HĀFU, the first solo exhibition by Nashville-based artist, Sai Clayton.
All new works use self-portraiture, masks, and ukiyo-e imagery as symbols to contemplate American biraciality, racial hyper awareness, and the transcultural experience.
Sai's work is deeply personal and examines her own experience as a half-Japanese, half-white woman born and raised in the Southern United States. The exhibition title, HĀFU, meaning 'half' in Japanese, is used to identify people who are ethnically half-Japanese. The Hāfu identity is marked by the dual nature of biracialism– referring to just one half of someone’s identity while emphasizing what’s different.
Centered around self-portraits, this exhibition attempts to define a face for Asian biracialism and establish the intersection between perceived race, cultural iconography, and the self. The portraits are intentionally inaccurate, referencing racial dysmorphia and the multitudes of self as it relates to outward racial perception and inward cultural identification. In an act of confrontation and empowerment, the faces reflect their identity crisis onto the viewer, urging you to consider your own identity and racial perceptions.
Sai Clayton is a Nashville-based visual artist and curator. Her recent exhibitions include: HĀFU, Random Sample (2023), Distinct Impressions, COOP Gallery (2023); Graphic, Random Sample (2022); Poetics of Materiality, Wavelength Space (2022); Art of the South, Zeitgeist (2022); and Drawers, Adult Contemporary (2022). She currently serves on the board of COOP Gallery and is the Executive Director of Number: INC magazine. She was previously an American for the Arts Diversity in Arts Leadership intern at OZ Arts, and was the 2021-22 Curatorial Fellow at the Frist Art Museum. She holds a B.A. in Visual Arts and minors in Dance and Japanese from Middle Tennessee State University.
For more information, please visit saiclayton.com or contact the gallery at randomsamplenashville@gmail.com
