Banciella, an artist based in Miami, Florida, discusses her solo exhibition, SPECIAL POWER, at the Kansas City Artists Coalition.

On view from Oct 4- 26th, 2024

From Banciella on her work

You should feel safe and have unsafe feeling.

These versions of the same woman are leading this magical unicorn into this really interesting dream space.

It's all red. Red can mean something very loving or also something very scary.

So, they lead him into this dream space and the unicorn is very trusting of them. Then they [the versions of the same woman] turn on the unicorn and start to hunt the unicorn. So there, it starts to show the betrayal of trust. Once they get the unicorn for its horn, they sew it onto the rabbit's head.

It's taking something that's very mundane (the rabbit for instance) and adding some adornment to make it sacred. With loving intentions, it's it turns out to be pretty gruesome and painful.

So that's what the whole thing is about. The duality of the red color being loving, but also being angry and a symbol of anger. The duality of the unicorn trusting but also being betrayed. The dream space as duality. Usually a dream is not scary, but then it turns into a nightmare. It's just a story that plays out, and you have to figure out what it means for yourself.

Q&A

Q: Tell us about the use of cedar in your artwork

A: The cedar used for the frames is aromatic cedar. So, it adds another sense to the story. And I was thinking of a kind of cabin and storytelling. For example, on one piece the planks of wood are are lined in a horizontal way like a cabin. Making the story a bit more immersive.

Q: Does the Jackalope have a place in this story

A: You know, this whole time, everybody has been saying that because I've been putting horns on rabbits. I didn't know the jackalope was a real thing, but then… I don't think it is a real thing. Is it? Well, I hope it is because it's pretty fantastic. I mean, it’s a magical creature within itself. So yeah. Yeah. So it's kind of like ritualistic? Yes.

Q: Is your work ritualistic?

A: Yes. I read this this book, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. And in one part of it, she's talking about ceremony and how ceremony takes something mundane and turns it into something sacred through the act of ceremony. I was thinking a lot about that during the creation of this body of work.

Q: Most of your work is oil paint and collage on paper but tell us more about the embroidered pieces on fabric.

A: Yeah. So at the end of the story, the the women take the horn of the unicorn and they sew it onto the rabbit. And that sewing/embroidery is another example of duality; where you're taking a craft or form of art that has been deemed very feminine, cozy, comforting, and loving and turning it into something very sharp and dangerous and gruesome.

Q: Can you tell us more about the the piece where the two women are stabbing each other?

A: Yes. Yeah. So that one… the myth from what I understand is that a unicorn can only be captured by a maiden. And so, this unicorn is leading them to its safe space. They are also maidens and versions of the same person. And so, when they're harming the unicorn, they're harming themselves. And in that piece, the woman is stabbing the other woman, but really she's stabbing herself. So it speaks to hurting or harming yourself.

Q: Tell us more about the versions of the woman.

A: Well, I think that one of them, the one who wants the horn, is the violent one. And the other is more passive. In the piece where she's standing over the unicorn, it's more like she's found this injured animal - having just come across it and not having done the deed herself. So kind of like good and evil.