Grief is a perilous journey. Fort Lauderdale-based artist Kelcie McQuaid explores the complicated and interwoven themes of generational trauma and familial habits that shape our identities, especially after losing those closest to us, in her solo exhibition “Lineage.” The multidisciplinary art showcase runs through Sept. 13 at the Bailey Contemporary Arts Center in Pompano Beach.
(GO INSIDE: BAJA Photojournalist Taimy Alvarez Captures Opening Night In Pictures)
“I’ve been making art professionally for over 15 years, but this show is something that has been in the works for some time now,” she says.
It all started in 2017 when McQuaid, 36, was curating what she describes as a “massive public art project.” It was the Open Canvas Project for the city of Fort Lauderdale and ArtServe through her art collective, Shangri La Collective, which she founded in 2010.
“It was a really busy and chaotic time in my life, and then everything just sort of fell apart,” she says. “My mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.”
Then another crushing blow.
“While all of this was going on, I found out my brother had passed away suddenly. It was just all too much. So, I just never had a chance to really process my grief.”
After taking a much-needed break from curating art projects in late 2019, McQuaid instead began consulting and mentoring artists for the Bailey Contemporary Arts Center.
Last year, she received an Artist Support Grant from the Broward County Cultural Division to create her first show in years, entitled “People Pleaser” at the 1310 Gallery in Fort Lauderdale, which was essentially a precursor to “Lineage.”
“I created this show about me being a people pleaser and creating community with my closest friends and people I’ve worked with locally. It was a chance for me to regain my strength and work up to what would ultimately be the most difficult and cathartic show I’ve created,” says McQuaid.
That show would culminate in “Lineage,” which was made possible with the Artist Innovation Grant Award from the Broward Cultural Division and the Community Foundation of Broward. The exhibition, which is the first show she has created and curated at the Bailey Contemporary Arts Center, combines numerous art mediums. From bio-art — art made using biological materials like plants or bacteria — portraiture, and fiber art to mixed media, kinetic sculptures, and video installations, each piece offers viewers a way to explore the impact of family histories and the inherited behaviors that are passed down through generations.
It was during the time she spent cultivating “Lineage” that McQuaid says she finally had the chance to process her grief, which was painful but necessary, she adds.
“This is how I’ve been able to process my feelings, and this body of work is really a dedication to all the people I love and all the people I’ve lost, including my grandfather, who passed during the run of ‘People Pleaser.’ I think that’s ultimately the most important aspect of this show, creating space in my heart to do more while also telling the story of my family,” says McQuaid.
With that, each piece is a testament to the lasting impact each of her family members has had on her life. Some of the installations even incorporate physical mementos of her family members, including her grandfather’s Kodachrome film slides from the 1940s, a painting by her great grandmother, and a typewriter that once belonged to her mother’s mother.
Although cherishing and celebrating the lineage of her family is not the only way McQuaid has sought to honor the people she has loved and lost in “Lineage.” One of her installations, entitled “Chemical Reaction,” serves as a love letter to her found family and the community she has created here in her hometown of Pompano Beach.
“I commissioned more than 16 musicians, many of whom are close friends of mine, to each make a 10-minute soundscape. I prompted them with the question, ‘Who in your early life made you feel most accepted?’ Then, with each soundscape they submitted, I created a circular mixed-media painting inspired by their soundscape. I wanted each piece to visualize the emotional textures of familial acceptance and translate those auditory experiences into vibrant, layered visuals,” she says.
One of the musicians and a longtime friend of McQuaid is Brady Newbill, singer and guitarist for the Broward County-based band Nervous Monks.
“The cool part about collaborating with Kelcie on this installation is that each musician has their own interpretation of the prompt,” says Newbill.
For him, the first person who came to mind was his older brother, Travis Newbill.
“We learned music together and were inseparable. So, when I created the soundscape, I knew I wanted him to contribute something to it. I put the foundational tracks together, but I told him how meaningful it would be for him to add something. I was expecting him to just play a couple of instruments and add a couple of sounds, but what he did blew me away.”
Newbill’s brother compiled a timeline of their paternal lineage, something that the brothers had only recently learned more about. He then wrote and recited a narration to be integrated into the soundscape. “It just made the whole thing more tangible and a lot more meaningful for both of us,” says Newbill.
As for the singer and bassist for the West Palm Beach band Surfer Blood, Lindsey Mills, her soundscape is a dedication to her parents and stepparents, who were instrumental in her love of music growing up.
“I am such a lucky person in the sense that I was surrounded by people who were supportive of me exploring my creativity. My parents are musicians, and my stepparents are musical as well. So, they understood the importance of nurturing that love of music in me,” she says.
She says when she put her soundscape together, she listened to a lot of old recordings.
“I grabbed little clips of me singing with my mom, playing guitar with my dad, doing harmonies with my stepmom, and recordings I created with my stepfather while running the mixing board at his and my mom’s radio show. Without them, I would never be the musician I am today.”
For each artist, their interpretations may be different, but the core theme remains the same – connecting with and finding people with whom you feel safe to be yourself.
As for what McQuaid believes viewers might take away from “Lineage,” which looks at grief through such a vulnerable lens, she hopes they will reflect on their relationships with grief.
“I hope that the exhibition offers a cathartic process for the community and encourages them to prioritize cherishing the time they have with their own families. I also hope that whatever it sparks in their minds and their hearts, they can use that as momentum to process their own grief, move forward, and create some beautiful things in the world,” she says.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Lineage” by Kelcie McQuaid
WHERE: Bailey Contemporary Arts Center, 41 NE 1st St., Pompano Beach
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday. Through Sept. 13. Closed Sunday and Monday.
COST: Free
INFORMATION: (954) 786-7879 or pompanobeacharts.org
