Critical Distance DIRECTORY naakita feldman-kiss

naakita feldman-kiss (they/she) is a queer artist of mixed heritage who lives and works in Tio’Tia:Ke / Montreal, QC. Their practice examines changing landscapes, contemporary applications of oral transmission, and intergenerational memory as forms of inheritance and legacy. feldman-kiss’s aesthetic explorations manifest in transmedia with a focus on text-based, performative, technological and social artworks. Having been raised in a transcultural environment (settler in so-called “Canada”/Caribbean/Eastern European), this facet of their identity informs their practice and drives them to work in a style that fosters cross-cultural connection.

Notable presentations of the artist’s works include MoMA PS1, New York, NY (2012); Eastern Bloc, Montreal, QC (2015); Unnoticed Festival, Nijmegen, NL (2016); Critical Distance, Toronto, ON (2019); FOFA Gallery, Montreal, QC (2019); and EXPRESSION, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC (2020). They’ve received grants from large and small scale funding bodies and institutions such as Jardins de Métis (2021), Canada Council for the Arts (2020, 2021), Museum of Jewish Montreal (2020), and Saw Video (2018). In 2016, they completed their B.F.A. at Concordia University in Intermedia where they graduated with distinction.

Image Caption: Stone Tape: A Haunting in Six Parts, video film still, 35 min, 2021-ongoing