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KAILA HARUNZADE
Confessions (2024)
This installation project weaves together secrets and portraits to explore identity, connection, and vulnerability. I gathered secrets from my family members and individuals I considered family in my new hometown of New York—some familiar, others meeting me for the first time. Each participant chose a space that resonated with them for their portrait, reflecting their comfort and personal connection to their environment.
Through this process, I deepened my understanding of myself and those around me, building relationships across varying levels of familiarity. The completed portraits were displayed alongside a confession booth, inviting teachers and peers to participate by writing their own confessions and discarding them within the booth’s confines, transforming the space into a collective exploration of intimacy and release.
Relationships (2024)
Part of a collaborative project, this work explored reinterpretation and shared creativity. In this iteration of our recipe project, my partner received my recipe, which centered on incorporating love letters to family. Together, we created an installation blending our Turkish and Chinese identities, showcasing a typical home environment and the shared traditions we discovered through conversation.
The centerpiece of the work featured us reading sentences beginning with “I love you (family member), but…”—layering familial love with the complexities of truth in important relationships. Set against the backdrop of tea time, a shared cultural ritual, the installation invited an intimate exploration of connection. Soon, others in the room joined in, adding their voices and stories to the collective reflection on love, family, and tradition.
Sacrifice of Innocence (2023)
This installation featured wax baby figures with wicks, symbolizing childhood innocence and the fragility of self. Participants were invited to dedicate or reflect on a nostalgic memory from their childhood, then light a candle or toy part. This act represented both the loss of innocence and the inevitable transformation of the self, as the flames consumed the delicate forms. The piece served as a collective meditation on growth, change, and the bittersweet nature of letting go.
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