Here We Are explores race, gender, and identity through mixed media, collage, and portraiture. The artists featured focus on many facets that affect African American women, including the diaspora, family history, trauma, the need to hide, and the desire to be seen, and how this impacts their own individual identities.
Here We Are addresses the lines drawn between historically white spaces and black bodies and the necessity of code switching and identity masking. Artists touch on many issues, including, the conflicting forces of personal, familial and historical trauma; pride, fear, hope, and anger. Often forced into silencing their voices to succeed, black women are burdened with the notion they must find ways to make the white men and women around them more comfortable, at the expense of their own volition. Here We Are strides to address the dichotomy of forced silence, while highlighting a diverse group of artists with voices who cannot be ignored.
Exhibition Dates: May 14th-June 20th 2020
Opening Reception: Friday, May 15th @ 6pm on Zoom
Participating Artists: Layo Bright, Beverly McCutcheon, Komikka Patton, Josie Love Roebuck, Theda Sandiford