In Conversation: Kal Hart

A conversation with Kal Hart regarding their exhibition . The show presents a series of sculptures that incorporate objects ranging from wood fragments, parking receipts, door knobs, moths, and mirrors. Seemingly framed and displayed in alternative contexts, these innocuous objects are leveraged to highlight the gaps in normalcy and disrupt accepted societal constructs.

The discussion will be moderated by Jessica Hernandez, Managing Director of UVA.

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Kal is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice serves as the artist's own navigation. Their work aims to identify and reconsider what is the norm and open alternative possibilities of defining oneself in the existing system that we inhabit. To do so, they dissect, collect, and assemble familiar object(s) and graft the components together to a theme to create objects that are reminiscent of the original. These seemingly absurd objects—which are often humorous in nature—serve as a playful invitation into systemic disarray. These reconstructed objects are situated within a new system that is unfamiliar, creating a narrative that is continuously fluctuating. These narratives elude conclusions, asking the viewer to reconsider assumptions.

They are a Korean artist currently living in Boston. They moved to the U.S. in 2019 for their bachelor's degree, which they completed at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They are currently based in Boston, where they are in the process of obtaining their MFA in Sculpture at Boston University.

Jessica Hernandez (she/her) is a DJ, sound artist, and curator. In terms of visual art, her interests include sculpture, installation, and textiles. She is also drawn to work that relates to archives, engages with text, and explores the ontology of objects, Blackness, and the Caribbean. As a musician and sound artist, her practice relies on the heavy processing of found samples and field recordings, often utilizing the sounds of industrial objects and materials for their sonic depth, brooding character, and conceptual resonances. In 2024, she and Aaron Michael Smith founded Transporter, an experimental music series located at the Boston Cyberarts Gallery. With Lori Martinez, she organizes WWL — a working group for queer and non-binary musicians. She runs Project One, a mix series mostly dedicated to techno. She graduated with a B.A. in Peace Conflict Studies in 2020 and an M.A. in History at the University of Virginia in 2022. She began working with UVA in 2022 and became Managing Director in 2024.

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