Often as a black person I find that the identity of blackness is often compartmentalized in ways such that we are coached into a performance of caricatures of various roles, rarely afforded the freedoms of perception to be our unique selves. We are often sculpted into an ill fitted monolith. Personal and collective healing are the central themes of this portrait. Collective healing begins on a personal level. Meditation, our connection with nature, and unification of one's inner truth through outward expressions of self are all avenues of healing explored in this piece.
Within afrofuturism there is a consistent interest in outer space with relationship to a sense of belonging. Internalizing this experience, rather than reaching to the outward stars explores a quest of journeying inward into the vastness of our personal universe, which is expressed in this portrait Each of us are expansive beings containing an unimaginable and unknown depth. Many people, regardless of ethnicity, never set out in earnest on the cartography of their inner landscape. Through my art practice I have become engrossed in this journey. This portrait calls into question this process of internal exploration coupled with curiosity around the role that place and context play into our understanding of self and others.
The employment of the quilt is a thread within much of my recent work. The quilt in this portrait acts as a multifaceted symbol of interconnectedness to one another and to the spirit realm, connecting the individual to a creative and cultural legacy. The diversity of materials and fusion of donated fabrics speaks to the tapestry of diasporic black identity. The color palette is suggestive of royalty and birthright. The practice of quilting connects us to ancestral energy, my process of quilting and using them in the photography conjures up this spiritual connection.
Our inexhaustible nature is profoundly fascinating, there is a singularity at the base of our being; a space of interconnected infinities. This theory, generated through this portrait also raises a conversation around outward empathy and inner tenderness. I find that we have the capacity to learn ever more about the truth of self through our engagements with others.
This work focuses on finding the fords between personal tenderness and interpersonal empathy as guiding lights on the journey of finding ourselves whole; with the tools of self reflection to maintain our evolving understanding of self and our impact on the people we engage with.
