“Being a trans, intersex and indigenous person, the artist feels themselves in an environment of what they call “a process of annihilation of trans subjectivities, legal isolation, medical pathologization and religious demonization” going hand in hand with the marginalization of indigenous communities. Through the power of machine learning Kira Xonorika created, supported by AI systems, creatures, or “multimodal bodies” using paragyan indigenous Guarani symbology and language together with trans aesthetics. The idea is that the images created challenge cultural hegemony and colonialism. Kira sees the transformative potential of metamorphosis and hybridity as a source of power. Kira Xonorika are an interdisciplinary artist, researcher and writer who has been shown and published widely internationally.”
Jury Statement
This series envisions and conjures up a future that transcends the binary epistemologies of civilization-dystopia and techno-utopia, centering on eco-justice and the existence of trans and Indigenous people: life-centric design. It draws inspiration from exobiological ecosystems and the transformative potential of metamorphosis, reframing hybridity as a source of power.
During the Middle Ages, taxonomical figures such as the Monster of Ravenna were used to disseminate normative ideas about bodies, erasing multimodality and dehumanizing gender and sexual diversity. Through colonialism, these ideas were exported and contributed to the racial division of the world.
For many indigenous cultures around the world, taking on the form of non-human species involves connecting with an element of their strength that can only be possible through a certain anatomical configuration, a process of bodily reorganization through symbiosis. Likewise, connecting with the spirits and forces of the earth and its elemental qualities. Additionally, shapeshifting in trans and queer cultures takes place through fashion semiotics, communicating through decoration as a manifestation of regalia and a celebration of communal spirituality, “clothing as an extension of the flesh.”
Through the power of machine learning, I have been able to reimagine the potential of the body in envisioning a regenerative and protopian future, in which bodies take on multiple forms and commute with nature.
This series confronts the homogenizing tendencies of AI systems in their databases and challenges cultural hegemony and the amalgamation perpetuated through colonialism.
Teleport us to Mars (Remix) / Kira Xonorika, Photo: Kira Xonorika
Kira Xonorika
Kira Xonorika is an interdisciplinary artist, writer and futurist. With a background in art history and research, their work explores the multidimensional connections between sovereignty, ancestry, the future, gender-expansive constellations, and magic. Through transcultural and AI-collaborative frameworks, Xonorika weaves multi-species worlds involving human, non-human and machine intelligence. In 2023, Kira was awarded the Momus/EYEBEAM Critical Writing Fellowship and became a Salzburg Global Seminar Scholar.