What does it mean to love yourself? How can love be radical? Gala Porras-Kim responds to questions including “where do you consider home?” and “What is your favourite childhood memory?”, providing a more personal insight into the artist and a foundation for the intimate conversation held as part of a three-part digital series, 'Radikal Self Love', which took place ahead of Liverpool Biennial 2023
1. What is the song you play the most when you’re working?
In the studio vintage Los Angeles Azules is most likely to be playing at any given moment.
2. Which book do you always return to?
It is difficult to pick a single book, but the one that gets repacked and moved with me for 20 years now is Lucy Lippard: Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972
3. Do you have a mantra? What is it?
I want to prepare to learn something I don’t know.
4. What are the ingredients to your favourite dish?
I pretty much eat the same thing every day in the studio: rice, soy sauce, sesame oil/seeds, sunny side egg, kimchi. Sometimes canned smoked fish for extra flare.
5. Where do you consider home, and what is your favourite place there?
I think home is more about the people than actual geography, I am living between Los Angeles and London where my most loved ones live. My favourite place there is in their heart.
6. What is your favourite childhood memory?
My favourite childhood memory is going to the archive every week with my dad. Since we lived in a lot of different places from Tunja to Madrid, each archive outing came with a different activity like finding relics or 4 leaf clovers or ice cream, but I made tons of drawings there while he worked.
7. What does self-love mean to you?
Self-love takes different forms every day depending on the circumstance. Overall, is to be kind to oneself, as if you were your own very good friend.