Now through May, 2025 | Health Sciences Library Gallery
“Expansion of Domains” by UMKC student Annie Kuzma, professionally known as The Banshee, is a collection of mixed media collages. Annie is studying vocal performance and plans to graduate in May 2025.
Statement from the Artist
My name is Annie Kuzma, but you may refer to me as The Banshee, a name I want the world to know me by. At my core, humbly, I am an artist and performer. 2024 was one of the most difficult years of my life. After experiencing a prolonged grieving process of a dear friend and lover, one who is still alive, I found myself growing through intense pain that humans are not meant to go through alone. Grieving someone who is still alive is a different kind of pain; the death of a relationship at the choice of one other person involved is a complex thing to come to terms with. The agony of this personal loss nearly killed me, and to cope with the emotional destruction, I needed to go on a self-discovery journey and pour love back into myself again. I could only do this through art, but not just any sort of art; I needed to create art that I wanted to create. As a rapidly burning out music student facing the pressures of becoming someone my professors and mentors wanted me to be rather than myself, that was something I struggled with immensely. To cope, I discovered the wonderful world of anime and manga at the beginning of my grieving and self-discovery process, which is how I became fascinated by Jujutsu Kaisen, the anime highlighted by this exhibit. One of the main arcs in the story involves a failed relationship that dangerously treaded the lines of close friendship and romance, drawing intense parallels with my situation at hand. Seeing what each person in that relationship became after their time apart motivated me to come out of my own grief as the strongest version of myself.
With the help of some new and incredible friends from KCAI, I discovered an entire world of creativity that I had previously shut myself off to because of the beliefs of the other person involved in the relationship I had been grieving. I discovered the art of drag, fashion, fluid gender expression, and the importance of separating my personal life from my work and performance craft, hence why The Banshee was born. I also discovered the art of collage-making, which taught me the importance of creating for my own joy, no matter how “cringey” others may perceive my work. Making collages continues to bring me joy outside of singing and performing, and I will continue to create something out of the leftover scraps and destroyed property discarded by others the same way I was discarded by this person I cared for. Collage-making taught me the importance of creating something beautiful in the midst of what looks like garbage and destruction to the untrained eye, and I hope that this exhibit also teaches you how to expand your own personal domains.
This exhibit is part of the UMKC Libraries Student Art Exhibits Program, dedicating gallery space in our libraries to share the creative and intellectual work of our students. Complete the Student Art Exhibits online application to be considered for exhibition.
