National

The evocative, adorned sculptures of Leilah Babirye (b. 1985 in Kampala, Uganda) feature the artist’s inventive reuse of debris with her deft carving of wood and work with ceramics. She uses the metal gears and chains of bicycles to create elaborate headdresses and jewelry, and the rubber inner tubes of bicycle tires to form long tresses that mingle with the burnt-black angles of her carved sculptures and the colorful glazes of her bulbous ceramic forms. For the ICA, Babirye premieres a new body of ceramic sculptures inspired by the idea of the queer wedding. Each sculpture adopts a role—bride, groom, ring bearer, flower girl, bridesmaid, or groomsman—in a vivid installation that is both wedding ceremony and celebration. Witnessing this central event are a number of large-scale works in charred wood, representing the aunties, uncles, and ancestors who have populated the artist’s practice from the beginning. For Babirye, who fled Uganda after being outed as gay, the exhibition continues her commitment to uplift LGBTQ identities through her singular, striking sculptural practice. The exhibition will be accompanied by the artist’s first book.