Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in Brussels, Kriss Munsya is a graphic designer, photographer and award-winning filmmaker now living in Vancouver. His current series of photographs, The Eraser, explores the entangled terrain of race, gender and identity, much of it filtered through a childhood rife with discrimination and trauma.

His work is derived from both stories he was told and those he tells himself, questioning both his identity and his memory, providing photographic tableau to help him tell that story. The work is consciously formalized and utilizes bright colours, patterned props and background elements in a bold photographic structure influenced in part by his graphic design background.

The Eraser juxtaposes experiences of the past with desires of the future. It is a story of change and transformation that centres a Black man revisiting experiences that have been normalized in critical reflection of internalized supremacy. Things that at the time he thought were normal now have new meaning and he wants to share the lessons within.

– Kriss Munsya

Exhibition Sponsored by: Downtown Vancouver BIA and HCMA Architecture + Design

Image: Kriss Munsya, Oasis (Black Mirror, The Eraser), 2020; C-print

c. The Artist