Kali Victoria
Between Pleasure and Disgust
Opening Reception: Thursday April 3, 6-9pm
Exhibition on view: April 4 – 11, 2025
On view gallery hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 12 – 5pm, and by appointment by contacting kalivict@usc.edu
Roski Graduate Gallery (Los Angeles Arts District) 1262 Palmetto St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Between Pleasure & Disgust is a metaphorical cathedral that symbolically allows visitors to be baptized, washing away the guilt attached to the thoughts of fulfilling one’s sensual desires. The indoctrination that takes place during this artistic journey aim is not to crucify or persecute, but to inspire a queer joy that is subversively universal. The poly-dimensional works carefully placed in the exhibition are a faithful means to make the fantastical tactile. To replicate the emotions attached to sexual freedom, there must first be an understanding of the personal narrative being told throughout the exhibit. The intimate autobiographically inspired works are an ode to the sacrifices that continue to be endured by Kali Victoria’s family. Although the stories that are shared through the artwork would have to be whispered in a traditional religious household, the works serve as a testimony to the feeling of being released from the suffocating grasp that occurs when a person isn’t provided with the freedom of self-love. Every sculpture, painting, and collage is crafted to encourage a personable exploration of the liminal space between pleasure and disgust.
Curated by Christina Ferraro
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kali Victoria (b. 1992, Norwalk, California) is an interdisciplinary artist creating work centered around her and her family’s queer history. Victoria brings tangible fruition to memory through ceramics with personal adornments, oil painting on nontraditional materials, and analog collage. She encapsulates the emotions tied to generational queerness, sexual fantasy, and inherited traumas. Victoria ties the confession that occurs in the Catholic Church to the testimony and vulnerability she encounters in her job at a sex shop. She integrates materials from her time researching there, such as dildos, silicone, nipple piercings, and ephemera. Victoria was recently awarded the Macomber Travel Grant to research ceramics and textiles in Jingdezhen, China. Her work has been featured in exhibitions and publications, such as Originals Por Vida, LAST Projects, SoCal MFA, and Monte Vista Projects, as well as a recent workshop at ICA LA’s PST program with renowned artist Nao Bustamante, in which she was ordained as “Clay Mistress.”
