Kayla Mahaffey (American/Illinois, b. 1994) , "Head in the Clouds", 2021, 27-color screenprint, signed lower right, numbered "13/75" lower left, dated and monogrammed in plate, 35 in. x 42 in., unframed. Note: Born and raised on the South side of Chicago, Kayla Mahaffey took the struggle in the world around her and the support from her community to evolve a unique and personal style that imbues her work with imagination, whimsy, positivity and the narrative of her own life story. Her works are best described as a mixture of pop art and Afro-surrealism and based around her childhood memories and the safety and comfort she felt in her younger years, particularly while watching cartoons. Mahaffey’s works have a depth of meaning and universal appeal that have led to her recent meteoric rise within the art world. In the skilled hands of Mahaffey, popular culture imagery is re-purposed and re-invented. By combining immediately recognizable cartoon elements with images of Black children, she succeeds in carving out space for them, and herself, within the imaginative chaos. This lot entitled “Head in the Clouds” is the first large-scale version of the print to be offered at auction. The main figure is wearing a bib dress and holding a basket, reminiscent of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She is surrounded by the controversial crows from Dumbo and picking cartoon bombs from a field of flowers, while a blue bird is perched on her hand singing off-key musical notes. The work is saturated in bubble gum and cotton candy colors, and the girl engages the viewer with a clear gaze and slight smile, inviting them into the artist’s world. The resulting effect is an aesthetically exquisite work which is as sentimental and whimsical as it is deeply powerful. Ref.: Scott, Chadd. “Kayla Mahaffey Explores Nostalgia in New Paintings.” See Great Art. Sept. 17, 2021. www.seegreatart.art. Accessed Oct. 27, 2022; “Interview with Kayla Mahaffey for ‘Remember the Time.’” Sour Harvest. Sept. 21, 2021. www.sourharvest.com. Accessed Oct. 27, 2022; Mahaffey, Kayla. “About.” Kayla May. www.kaylamay.art. Accessed Oct. 27, 2022.

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