Kerry Tenbey’s Tactile And Grotesque Art Aims To Destroy Assumptions About Gender

How did your interest in the relationship between art and sociology develop?

It has naturally grown from personal intrigue and a desire to investigate the obvious connections between both. Making is my process of understanding, that is, how our social surroundings and interactions can influence how we view ourselves and others. Our entire lives are dictated by navigating through spaces and interacting with objects and functional items, all of which are made, designed or imagined. I am curious about our emotional responses to the materialistic world around us.

Your work revolves around critiquing social constructs of gender, sexuality, and intimacy. How does this desire to question our cultural conditioning affect your work?

It definitely plays a big part in what I make and the processes I use. I try to be very intentional about the materials I use. Materials commonly found in domestic or institutional settings are familiar to us all; we recognize them, they provoke remembrance of times, places, people, and situations. We collectively share memories of bedrooms, bathrooms, train stations, the classroom, the hospital—the list is endless, and all of these settings are the backdrops to intimate encounters. The materials which make up these backdrops play an equally important role in the outcomes of social situations and connectivity. So if you are critiquing these social constructs, you must include all elements in that investigation.