Conceptual Materials Social Practice Artist
Loews and Home Depot are my favorite art supply stores.
Jute Erosion Control Cloth is a tough, natural, biodegradable geotextile used to stabilize slopes and control soil erosion.
It is also the latest art supply I am mocking up a few ideas to experiment with…
Location: Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC), 100 South Street in Morristown NJ.
Opening Reception: Sunday, January 22nd from 3pm to 6pm.
Please let me know if you want to carpool and join me.
I have three solo shows in 2023 focused on this theme.
Despite the growing commitment to racial equity, the day-to-day experiences of women of color are not improving. Women of color face similar types and frequencies of microaggressions as they did two years ago – and they remain far more likely than white women to face disrespectful and “othering” behavior.
The weight of these triggers underpins very real consequences… stress, anger, frustration, self-doubt and ultimately feelings of powerlessness and invisibility. These triggers come with a hefty toll of emotional baggage.
Extensions of rope, wrapped, knotted, woven, and embellished with recycled textiles, zip ties, ribbon and yarn, gingerly invite the audience into off the-wall conversations about the “respectability politics” of black hair. My Emotional Baggage Carts are vessels for this racial trauma. The act of making, weaves the sting of daily microaggressions into the cart, freeing me from these constraints.
Location: Schweinfurth Art Center; 205 Genesee St. Auburn, NY 13021
Location: Wa Na Wari, 911 24th Avenue, Seattle WA
Location: The Lab at Krasl Art Center. 707 Lake Blvd, St Joseph, MI
Dark matter takes up an estimated 25% of the vast universe. It is not observable through the human senses. In the darkness of space, its presence is detected by its interaction with gravity and its mass bending light around it, similar to refracted distortions in water. It is an uncomfortable truth that so much exists in our reality, yet so much is beyond our perception.
Like light revealing dark matter in space, the artists in the exhibition use the physicality of their work to present unrepresentable realities and experiences. The artists offer a range of engagement, from providing comfort to illustrating society’s harmful, unacknowledged ills that impact groups differently.
Each artist in DARK MATTER brings personal and systemic concerns to the foreground. By starting with the intangible, the artists render perceptible the dark matter of society.
DARK MATTER features artists Kevin Claiborne, Turiya Magadlela, Jamel Robinson, Nnorom Samuel, Theda Sandiford, Rudy Shepherd, Jairo Sosa, and Roscoè B. Thické III on view Tuesday, January 10th to Saturday, February 11th, with a reception on Friday, January 13th, 2023. Mark your calendar for a performance by Rudy Shepherd takes on Saturday, January 21st, and on Thursday, February 2nd, a special program with Art Noir.
A hybrid of the words for “china” and “money,” chaney is the porcelain shards found in the soil after a hard rain and washed up on the beaches of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.
I found this shard in The Gut, the riverbed on my property that runs down the Blue Mountain out to the Salt River estuary.
Ceramics, broken in symbolic acts of destruction by slaves, is a symbol of colonial resistance.
I wonder if the tourists buying chaney repurposed into jewellery are aware of the sociopolitical postcolonial critique of colonization and slavery.
For now, I will keep collecting chaney until It is ready to find it’s way into my work….
I have quite a bit lined up for 2023 , including three solo shows, a return to Governors Island, Fiber Art’s Excellence in Fibers and the group show Dark Matter in LES. There is so much to look forward to in 2023.
Surface Design Association’s juried members’ exhibition
Exhibition Dates: December 6- January 27th, 2023
January 4, 2023: Online panel discussion held as part of Textile Talks
Location: Chehalem Cultural Center; 415 E Sheridan St, Newberg, OR
Exhibition Dates: January 22-March 5
Location: Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC), 100 South Street in Morristown NJ
Exhibition Dates: January 13- February 11, 2023
Location: Kates- Ferri Projects, 561 Grand St, New York, NY
Exhibition Dates: March 3 – July 30, 2023
Location: The Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road Morristown, NJ
Exhibition Dates: March 25-May 28, 2023
Location: Schweinfurth Art Center; 205 Genesee St. Auburn, NY 13021
Artist Talk: March 22, 12:00-1:00pm
Location: New Jersey State Museum; 205 West State Street Trenton NJ
Date: March 28, 2023
Location: Registration for Virtual Zoom details forthcoming
Exhibition Dates: April 22, 2023- July 17, 2023
Location: Wa Na Wari, 911 24th Avenue, Seattle WA
Exhibition On View: June 18, 2022 – April 30, 2023
Museum Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 9 am to 4:45 pm; Closed Mondays & all State Holidays
Location: New Jersey State Museum; 205 West State Street Trenton NJ
Exhibition Dates: April 23,2022- May 21, 2023
Location: 411 N. Sherman Parkway, Springfield MO 65802.
Exhibition Dates: June 22- June 25, 2023
Location: Millersville University, Millersville, PA
Exhibition Dates: July 1, 2023- September 17, 2023
Location: The Lab at Krasl Art Center. 707 Lake Blvd, St Joseph, MI
Exhibition Dates:August 23, 2023 – January 7, 2024.
Location: San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textile; 520 S First St, San Jose, CA 95113
All things considered 2022 was a good year. Here are a couple highlights for me…
I met so many wonderful people at ExpoChicago at my booth, I am still on endorphin high from my visit to the windy city.
I spent most of my Summer with Art Crawl Harlem at Governors Island and can not wait to do it again this year with a new interactive installation.
It was so fantastic to hang with old friends and new, at my solo art show at Ivy Brown Gallery in the meatpacking district.
Being recognized by ADWeek and my peers for my innovation was surprise and trill for me.
And lastly…. my emotional baggage carts made with Fresh Direct bags were mentioned in the NY Times and got picked up by ArtNet News.
My Emotional Baggage Carts were featured in New York Times article as one of the inventive examples of designers upcycling and turning FreshDirect plastic totes into trendy accessories and art.
ArtNet News even mentioned my Emotional Baggage Carts sculpture series, addressing the pressures of the pandemic that produced such a surplus of Fresh Direct delivery bags in the first place.
Thank you Hoboken Girl for the shout out as one of the 23 Hoboken + Jersey City Women to Watch in 2023. It is an honor to be included amongst this cohort of diverse, extraordinary business owners and community leaders.
There is still time to pick up a mini emotional baggage cart for yourself or someone special.
Saturdays and Sundays in December – 12pm – 5pm
December 19 – 22 5pm-8:30pm
Holiday Party: Friday, December 23 6pm – 9pm
Saturdays and Sundays in January – 12 to 3pm
Closing reception will be Friday, January 27th from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.
Location: Art House Productions Gallery: 345 Marin Blvd (between Morgan and Bay St.)
