Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Cali M. Banks is an indigenous artist of Lenape/Munsee, and Scottish descent. She is currently based out of Boulder, Colorado. Banks a holds a bachelor’s degree in art and technology and global health studies from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. She is currently a Masters of Fine Arts candidate in Interdisciplinary Media Arts Practices in the Art and Art History department at the University of Colorado Boulder, specializing in photography. Banks has been a classically trained dancer for over twenty years. She is also a current Engaged Arts and Humanities Scholar at the University of Colorado Boulder, in which she works with at-risk youth in the community to create public-based art.
Banks explores the reclamation of identity through performative photography and videography. Meaning, she examines the complexities of the female body and experience through photography, videography, performance, and new media. This duly explores the ideas of public versus private narratives, which acts as a catalyst for discourse addressing the familial and the feminine. The aesthetics of her work can be described as raw and intentionally unpolished. This formal strategy of leaving the work unconventional also relates to the context of her work, being that women’s experiences are never resolved, nor can be encapsulated in a neat, tidy box. Being interested in constructing intimate experiences, she creates immersive multimedia installations, photographic prints, and performances.
Untitled, 2021
Untitled is a handprinted 16mm film. This work represent blood, clotting, and vaginal discharge as a result from trauma, chronic illness, or normal bodily functions.
Reclamation, 2021
Reclamation discusses the act of reclaiming the female body and anatomy through ritualistic performance. The pink rose motifs stem from Banks’ Lenape/Munsee heritage, while the fruits and vegetables are symbols of female genitalia and pleasure. The sound originates from a microphone inserted into Banks’ vagina. The sounds heard are urination, vibrator speed and pattern settings, and vaginal secretions.
Inward is a sound piece that is similar to the track in “Reclamation”. The sound originates from a microphone inserted into Banks’ vagina. The sounds heard are urination, vibrator speed and pattern settings, and vaginal secretions.
current workspace image
I still have access to my studio on CU Boulder’s campus, but in a very limited capacity. I have turned my 4 ft by 4 ft kitchen into a studio space, and have started creating work in my bedroom and bathroom.
I have been quarantining alone, which is difficult in itself. As a chronically ill person, the weight of the morbidity of the pandemic is incredibly heavy- physically and emotionally. I am attempting to be a virtual caretaker to my elderly mother that lives across the country, who is also in severe heart failure.