Virtual Solo Show at MoCADA

This exhibition explores implicit biases facing BIPOC communities and my aesthetic armor for protection.

The show will be on view in MoCADA’s virtual exhibition from May 3, 2021 to July 5, 2021.

Some key dates…

Virtual “Opening/Preview / Tour”: Thursday, April 29, 2021 from 7-9PM

Virtual Artist Talk: Thursday, May 27, 2021 from 7-9PM

Workshop: Saturday, June 12, 2021 at 3-5PM

2021 New Jersey Arts Annual: ReVision and Respond

2021 New Jersey Arts Annual: ReVision and Respond

When the Newark Museum of Art announced the artists whose works will be featured in the upcoming exhibition: 2021 New Jersey Arts Annual: ReVision and Respond, I missed my acceptance email and had no idea I was in the show until I had missed a communication deadline and the museum reached out and checked up on me. Doh…

The exhibition will open on Thursday, June 17 and will be on view through Sunday, August 22. This year’s exhibition jurors are Kristen J. Owens, Associate Curator (Programs) for Rutgers University-Newark’s Paul Robeson Galleries at Express Newark, and Amy Simon Hopwood, Associate Curator of Decorative Arts at The Newark Museum of Art. Together, they reviewed more than 1,800 entries from 484 artists across New Jersey. The jurors selected 50 works by 45 artists interpret this year’s ReVision and Respond theme. My weaving, You’re So Articulate will appear in the show.

Baggage Cart Statement

We all carry emotional baggage Naturally; these manifests differently for each of us. Some of us carry suitcases of pain and bitterness while some of us just have a backpack. As an empath, I carry a lifetime of disappointments and racial traumas.

Being alive means having the capacity to carry past experiences and learn from them. But there’s a point when this baggage becomes too much.  Carrying too much emotional baggage can literally stop us from being open to new experiences, intimacy and growth.

How we choose to handle our baggage makes a difference. We have the choice to let it define us or to let it go and move forward.

My baggage carts are designed as a vessel for racial and class traumas. My baggage carts serve…

  • to separate myself from these experiences.
  • to grant access to grace.
  • to create a new possibility for myself, free from the constraints of the past.

New Artist Statement

Utilizing 100-foot extensions of rope, twine, and yarn impeccably wrapped, woven, tied and embellished with recycled beads, ribbon, lace, tape and bottle cap bobbles, I lure you into her hue-imbued, enmeshed installations symbolizing natural hair. My bold, albeit whimsically twisted and locked forms gingerly invite the audience into off the-wall conversations about micro aggressions against black women and their hair.

Using personal conflict as a starting point, I juxtapose various fibers with a variety of found materials using free form weaving, coiling, knotting, wrapping and jewelry making techniques.  Meticulously collected materials, transformed by their collective memory become “social fabric” weaving together contemporary issues and personal narratives.

Community art making is also key to my process. Multi-disciplinary experiences pairing people, food, wine, music and art, create a safe space to explore themes such as equity & inclusion, sustainability and personal wellbeing.

Upcoming Artist Talks

Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 7-8pm     The Center for Contemporary Art virtual studio visit. Register here.

Friday, March 5, 2021 6-9pm                 Weave Weird Baggagecarts JC Friday. Register here.

Please save these dates. Registration links forthcoming.

Thursday, May 27, 2021 7-9pm            Microaggressions MoCADA Artist Talk

Saturday, June 12, 2021 3-5pm             Microaggressions MoCADA Workshop

Virtual Studio Visit 3/4

I am the third prize & solo exhibition winner in the International Juried Exhibition, Victor Davson, juror.

Join me for a virtual studio visit to see what Ive been up to this past year on Thursday March 4th @ 7:00pm ET.

Registration fee is free for members of The Center for Contemporary Art and $15 for non-members.

http://ow.ly/75Sn50DKTlO

Caribbean Friendship Bracelet