"A Good Time"
Katasi constructs nostalgic tableaus of intimate social moments using digital collage, placing beautiful people having A Good Time in the foreground of architecturally magnificent spaces. Her whimsical works exhibit playfulness and joy on the surface, with an underlying theme of reclaimed ownership of space. This theme is represented through her reimagination of archival imagery, taking people out of their original image context and placing them in spaces that were typically exclusionary at that time.
As a first-generation Ugandan-Filipina American, this series puts an emphasis on Katasi’s constant rediscovery of and connection to her blackness through Black American life and culture. It also taps into her love for 70’s/80’s nostalgia, funk, disco, soul, and retro-futurism. Each piece is an intimate glimpse into her memories and aspirational versions of herself and life. The people in each peice elicit a feeling of familiarity to herself, her family, mentors she grew up with, and women who paved the way for her to exist and thrive. This familiarity is drawn through the gaze, smile, style, and body language of each person. It’s also the familiarity to each other and with the space they are in, making each collage feel like an actual photograph.
In her final piece, “Mahal Kita”, she explores similar themes representing her Filipino roots and centering Filipina women who have consistently been the driving force of labor and care for decades all over the world (e.g., as nurses and caretakers). This piece is dedicated to her late mother, Sandra Stella Cambonga Kulubya, who was one of these women and whose divine spirit will forever live on.
Through this series, Katasi hopes to share the distinctive beauty that she has always seen and felt in herself, her sisters, and her brothers -- taking us all somewhere healing and uplifting.