In the Castle of My Skin, one of Boyce’s most complex and ambitious projects to date, elaborates on the idea of a multi-perspectival artwork that incorporates the artworks of other artists. Shown in two venues in 2020 Eastside Projects, Birmingham, and MIMA-Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in 2021, In the Castle of My Skin featured a large geometric sculpture by Boyce based on the shape of pyrite, a shimmering mineral commonly known as Fool’s Gold.

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The sprawling structure, covered in the artist’s wallpaper designs alongside a newly commissioned two-channel video, occupied the central focus of both exhibition spaces and incorporated the works of several other artists – some who were invited to become part of the display while other art works held in the MIMA collection were loaned for the exhibition. Each venue offered an ensemble of sensory experiences from the visual to the sonic, to a reconsideration of the spatial.

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In the Castle of My Skin uses the metaphor of skin as a covering, a surface, a barrier, a marker of identity and a connector between internal and external worlds. Works by other artists spill from and intersect with Boyce’s geometric structure, encouraging freewheeling connections to be made between artworks from different eras and across a range of materials.

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The title of the exhibition comes from a novel by George Lamming of the same name, which is a study of colonial revolt. Set in the 1930s in Barbados, where the author was born, the story follows a young boy’s life against the backdrop of major societal change. The novel is seen as one of the great political novels in modern ‘colonial’ literature. Boyce’s reference to this book builds on her extensive work in re-evaluating modernism to incorporate a range of perspectives, journeys, and voices.

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The exhibition was organised in partnership with Eastside Projects with new works co-commissioned by Eastside Projects and MIMA, with support from The Henry Moore Foundation and Elephant Trust.

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Eastside Projects – Guest Artists:

Anna Barham

Lindiwe Matshikiza and Flora Parrott

Harold Offeh (in partnership with DanceXchange)

Luc Pheles

Alberta Whittle

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Artists from the MIMA Collection:

Francis Alÿs

Lynn Chadwick

Lucy Harvey

Andrew Logan

Jacqueline Poncelet

Bridget Riley

Martin Smith

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MIMA - Guest Artists:

Saelia Aparicio

Simeon Barclay

Anna Barham

Emma Bennett

Kev Howard

Lindiwe Matshikiza and Flora Parrott

Harold Offeh

Penny Payne

Luc Pheles

Alberta Whittle

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Artists from the MIMA Collection:

Francis Alÿs

Nathan Carter

Lynn Chadwick

Paul Chan

Christine Constant

Graham Gussin

Harrison and Wood

Lucy Harvey

Andrew Logan

John Maltby

Teresa Margolles

Carol McNicholl

Cornelia Parker

Jacqueline Poncelet

Bridget Riley

Ed Pien

Paul Sharits

Martin Smith