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Access Gallery is pleased to introduce our new Artistic Director Kitt Peacock and Operations Manager Karen Thảo La!
Kitt Peacock is an artist, curator, and settler from O’odham Jeweḍ, currently working on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ nations. Their practice is centred around the creation and maintenance of trans worlds, and considers how violent conditions can be redeployed as the very material of trans life. Peacock’s current work with the Centre for Near Life Research forges alliances with non-living relations—contaminated waterways, lethal algae blooms, and sites of harm—in order to discover new strategies of community resistance.
Kitt holds a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art +Design (2019) and an MFA from the University of British Columbia (2023). Their work has appeared in recent exhibitions at the Geffen Contemporary (Los Angeles), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
Karen Thảo La (she/her) is a Vietnamese-Canadian artist, cultural producer, and facilitator living and working on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations.
With deep winding roots from Sài Gòn to Cà Mau, Vietnam, her practice is informed by collective memory, ancestral folklore, and the space between language(s). Themes of circularity and cultural identity emerge across mediums and collaborative, community-engaged art projects emphasizing youth participation. Karen's care-based ethos is at the heart of her work, driving her passion for creating accessible artistic experiences, places of gathering, and opportunities for diasporic (re)connection, cultural exchange, and celebration. Vòng Vòng, a periodic event series that centres and connects Vietnamese/BIPOC communities from around the world, is the latest iteration of these efforts.
She holds a BFA from the University of British Columbia and is committed to ongoing un/learning, and pursuing in/formal embodied experiences near and far.
The Access Board of Directors is incredibly excited to start this new journey with Kitt and Karen. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for us!