Jeffrey Meris
Bio: Jeffrey Meris was born in Haiti in 1991 and grew up in the Bahamas. Meris received an A.A in Arts and Crafts from the University of The Bahamas and a B.F.A in Sculpture from Temple University in May 2015, after being awarded the prestigious Harry C Moore, Lyford Cay Foundation Art Scholarship in 2012. Meris is the recipient of Popopstudios Junior Residency Prize 2010, Central Bank of The Bahamas Art Competition winner 2013, Guttenberg Arts Artist in Residence 2016, Halle 14 A.I.R 2017, among others. Meris has exhibited and spoken in multiple locations including Port au Prince, New York, Los Angeles, Vienna, Leipzig, and Wakanda. Meris is an MFA Candidate (2019) in Visual Arts at Columbia University.
Thesis Exhibition
Artist Statement:
I was displaced at birth.
Shot into a violent world that continuously reiterated the who are you? the where are you from? and what are you doing here? I am trying to make sense of it without being cynical or overly didactic but in a way that allows for something more embodied.
My practice is an attempt at orbiting these immense questions that keep me up at night; who are you? I was born in Haiti, grew up in the Bahamas and now I am a (constant) migrant living in America, but what does this say about me other than the state of my body even before my existence?
When the ripple settles does the ocean remain the same? What happens to the water level when it too is displaced?
Often the material and conceptual processes in the work refract my reality, plaster reproductions of my body that mechanically destroy themselves much like I want to be freed of the violence of interpellation (Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, 2019). In Where the Line is Drawn (2018), I attempt to empty the ocean of its water, fixing the geographical fracture that runs in my familial ancestry. Working across sculpture, video, drawing and performance, I try to find buoyancy. Until the water settles, I’ll float on. Displaced. Wondering. Who am I?
L to R: I Am of A People (Skywriting, 2019); Now You See Me; Now You Don’t (Weight), (Perforated sheet metal, mild steel, hydrocal cast, AC motor, sponge, scale, roofing paper, 2019); Now You See Me; Now You Don’t (Installation View), (Perforated sheet metal, mild steel, hydrocal cast, AC motors, roofing paper, various found objects, 2019)