Blending memories of the Pacific Northwest, her Korean roots, and fictional elements like folk tales and shamanistic rituals, Zadie Xa creates large, multisensory installations that explore historical traditions. She notes in an interview with Tate Gallery that folk art is “really the language of our ancestors directly to us” and a space where she finds “a sense of hope, and a desire for that resistance within the work.” Guided by this intuitive philosophy and using an interdisciplinary approach, Xa views each exhibition as a singular, immersive work, stitching together a rich and otherworldly narrative.
Her newest iteration weaves together two bodies of work: Rough Hands Weave a Knife, a series of paintings and sculptures Xa made in early 2024; and Moonlit Confessions Across Deep Sea Echoes: Your Ancestors Are Whales, and Earth Remembers Everything (2025), a project created with her long-term collaborator Benito Mayor Vallejo. The two different exhibitions move lyrically across the hand-painted, cavernous rooms, drawing viewers into a dreamlike realm where mythology speaks, ghosts haunt, and diaspora sings.
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Arranged in three sequential rooms at the Esker Foundation, the installation invites the viewer to enter the first space and walk progressively deeper.
Inside the first space, three figures sit on a large blue hexagonal plinth. Cast in bronze and finished with polished gold and oxidized green surfaces, these human-animal hybrids come alive against a lush and colourful backdrop. The walls are painted a deep teal, evoking deep, tranquil waters or an old-growth canopy. Five paintings, some framed or composed using bojagi, a multicoloured Korean patchwork technique, hang along the perimeter of the room. Filled with shamans and mystical beasts, they echo Xa and Vallejo’s imposing figurines, which reference Korean funerary dolls and are based on characters from Xa’s performances, like an orca playing a drum or a nine-tailed fox performing a handstand on human hands.
In the next room, the palette deepens into a dark, oceanic blue, where additional paintings and a four-panel screen painting, positioned on a plinth and facing forward, guide the viewer toward the shimmering final chamber.
As you step onto the gold sheeting that blankets the floor, the final chamber shifts dynamically as the walls move from sunset to night, mimicking a glimmering ocean. At the heart of this luminous environment hangs Ghost, a monumental centrepiece constructed from over 1,000 brass bells arranged in the shape of a massive conch shell. Inspired by Korean shamanic ceremonial rattles, which are designed to evoke sounds of spiritual protection, this intricate work, as its title suggests, remains completely silent. This defiant silence is permeated by atmospheric sounds that emanate from the edges.
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Around the perimeter, four large seashells hang suspended from the ceiling like acoustic portals. Gathered by the artists from shorelines in Korea, Greece, and Sharjah, these objects broadcast a haunting, atmospheric audio track. Standing directly beneath them, the ear-to-shell experience bypasses the traditional sounds of wind and waves; instead, the audio seamlessly cycles through soft chatter, Morse code, ringing phones, and the deep, ancient language of whales.
Having grown up in Vancouver and now based in the UK, Xa innately recognizes the cultural complexities of navigating multiple identities and her Korean heritage. Working eloquently across performance, painting, sculpture, textile, and installation, Xa’s work emanates a joyful exuberance.
However, beneath the belly of the beast lies a darker undercurrent, forcing viewers to contemplate ecological grief, diasporic dislocation, and colonial disruptions
This exhibition can be viewed until August 23. Learn more at eskerfoundation.com.
IN THE GALLERIES THIS MONTH
ARTPOINT GALLERY
A Place of Joy
Until July 13, 2026
Featuring seventeen distinct local artists, this group presentation explores deeply personal interpretations of joy and optimism. Spanning a diverse array of mediums and styles, the vibrant, celebratory collection provides a lively visual sanctuary designed to uplift visitors and counter contemporary feelings of social exhaustion.
NICKLE GALLERY
Her Own Way: A Selection of Women Artists in the Nickle Collection
Until August 21, 2026
This exhibition features women artists from the permanent collection who produced work in the post-war era between 1950 and 1979. Showcasing rarely exhibited pieces across a breadth of media, the collection offers vital insight into the distinct, successful paths these creators forged despite widespread gender bias and misogyny.
PAUL KUHN GALLERY
Mark Holliday + Aaron Sidorenko: DEGREES OF ENTROPY
Until August 22, 206
This joint exhibition featuring Mark Holliday and Aaron Sidorenko explores themes of decay, breakdown, and transformation. Engaging in a visual dialogue between abstract forms and heavily textured surfaces, their art challenges traditional systems of order, exploring how meaning shifts and evolves amid unpredictable chaos.
CONTEMPORARY CALGARY
Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return
Until November 8, 2026
A 500-pound butter sculpture of a cowboy on horseback is the centrepiece of Ghazaleh Avarzamani’s installation. The surrounding textiles, archival items, and game tokens mimic the logistics of Monopoly. Together, these ordinary objects expose a hostile choreography of rules and conquests, revealing how excessive wealth and power shape our social and political life.
