An artist describes using visual work to bridge personal and collective histories, drawing from memories of their grandmother's sewing room and childhood costumes. They weave family lineage, the African diaspora, and themes of immigration and race into metaphorical passageways that let viewers access others' stories.
It's never quite clear what is just my history and the history of others, like what belongs to me and what belongs to the world. I would like to use my art to transform, create connections through the subjects of ancestry, family lineage, cultural memory, and identity. There's a lot of, like, dividing lines, whether it be through immigration, borders, different belief systems, race. And I want to see where these points of connection are, where these openings, where these passageways where you can pass through and have access to someone else's story. This latest body of work was first inspired by my grandmother's sewing room. My grandmother always used to make me these Halloween costumes. And so I had this like African princess dress. I had these yearnings to know what was my history beyond what was taught to me in school, specifically working through my family ancestry and history of the African diaspora, finding these traditions and these customs and sort of applying them to what I already know and making up what is my history and my way of being. I think that storytelling is part of revealing and finding that deeper meaning and uncovering, you know, who you are and where you come from. Ultimately, through that work, I hope to, you know, inspire others to know themselves better.
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