White Plaits, Blue Braids
Braids have been made for thousands of years and for a variety of uses. In contrast, plastic bags are new but can take hundreds of years to decompose. In this ethereal image, Elphinstone combines the two to narrate many commentaries, from the local practises of overfishing, to thatching traditions, and to broader themes of time, functionality, as well as conservation.
About the Artist
Kaitlyn Elphinstone
b. 1985
Kaitlyn Elphinstone is an interdisciplinary artist who works in digital media and assemblage. She studied visual art and art history at the University of Toronto and has a master’s degree in arts policy and management from Birkbeck College, University of London. She has coordinated several local arts festivals and specialises in cultural communications and arts administration. Elphinstone was recognised with a Cayman National Cultural Foundation Silver Star for Creativity (2016) and is a founding member of the contemporary artist collective C4. NGCI exhibitions include The Persistence of Memory (2011), Art of Assemblage (2013), Metamorphoses (2014), tIDal Shift: Explorations of Identity in Contemporary Caymanian Art (2015), Upon the Seas (2017), Revive: Contemporary Caymanian Craft (2017), and Cross Currents – 1st Cayman Islands Biennial (2019).
