Bell Hooks dropping knowledge on the “you are one of the good ones” stereotype… listen
If I had a dollar for every time, some one told me I was one of the good ones, I’d be independently wealthy.
World of Threads Festival
Ive applied to World of Threads Festival a few times in the past and was not accepted. This year is different, I finally was accepted.
I am please to share that part of my microagressions installation, Blackity Black Blanket Ladders will be on display along with hundreds of other international fiber artists.
Bottom line… try and if you don’t succeed, try again. Eventually, you will hit your mark.
Ive already booked my flight to attend the opening reception in Oakville Canada.
World of Threads Festival
Exhibition Dates: October 10 – December 17, 2023
Opening Reception: October 14, 2023, 1:00-3:00pm
Location: Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre; 2302 Bridge Rd, Oakville, ON L6L 3L5, Canada
Blackity Black Blanket Installation in Print
I’m tickled pink!
My installation work Blackty Black Blanket will be included in 2023, Surface Design Journal’s Eighth Annual International Exhibition in Print: Lasting Impression selected by Guest Juror Lorna Hamilton-Brown.
Thank you, April Tracy for taking these photos, guest Juror Lorna Hamilton-Brown and Surface Design for the opportunity to share this work.
Impact of Microagressions
Microaggressions Sound Like
Let me know what you think of this audio that will accompany future installation of Free Your Mind?
The difference between microaggressions and overt discrimination, is that people who commit microaggressions are often unaware they are doing these things – and if you point it out to them, they say, “That wasn’t my intention, you are being too sensitive.” Which is yet another microaggression.
I often have the experience of people touching my hair without asking first, which makes me feel like a merchandise on display and I cannot begin to tell you how many times I’ve been complimented for being “articulate.” Which presumes that black people are not usually capable of competent intellectual conversation.
The weight of these daily interactions underpins very real consequences… stress, anger, frustration, self-doubt and ultimately feelings of powerlessness and invisibility.
Microaggression: Highlights
Im often asked what are the microaggressions I experience the most, so I made a video.
This video will play in the next iteration of Free Your Mind’s installation.
Making Of: You Are So Articulate
My weaving, You Are So Articulate, is currently displayed at the 2021 New Jersey Arts Annual: ReVision and Respond at The Newark Museum of Art.
Each piece of yarn used to in this weaving is representative of a particular conversation where I was acknowledged for being able to express my thoughts and ideas. As you can see this conversation comes up quite a bit.
You Are So Articulate- 
You Are So Articulate- close up 
You Are So Articulate- close up
You Are So Articulate comes in many forms, including…
you speak so well… you are well read… you speak white… and even “that went better than I was expecting”, comment after I nail the presentation.
Telling someone they are well-spoken is a back handed compliment. It carries the connotation that, it is unusual for someone Black to be intelligent.
The completed weaving is displayed on a DYI loom, as if, it is a work in progress because some version of this conversation, continues still, till this very day.
Hiding In Plain Sight
Racial Gaslighting, hides in plain sight in everyday interactions. It subtly shifts dialog from a racist topic at hand onto the accuser – forcing me to question and re-assess my own response to racism, rather than the racism itself.
“You’re being overly dramatic.”
“Are you sure it was about race?”
“I’m sure he/she didn’t mean it like that.”
Intentional or not, these types of comments trigger a spiral of self-doubt and create a convenient way to avoid uncomfortable conversations about race.
The constant questioning, twisting and undermining of personal experience and what I know to be true – has had a compound negative affect upon me, manifesting in insomnia, anxiety and hefty amounts of emotional baggage. Through these works, I am exercising these demons.
This exhibition explores implicit biases facing BIPOC communities and the aesthetic armor for protection I have created to shield myself.
Visit the Virtual Gallery
Death by 10,000 Paper Cuts
Death by 10,000 Paper Cuts uses recovered commercial fishing net, 10,000 zip ties and silk sari yarn to illuminate the impact of microaggressions.
The term, Death by a thousand cuts is derived from a form of Chinese torture known as lingchi, where a person is subjected to hundreds of small cuts until death occurs.
If you get one papercut, it is uncomfortable, but the wound eventually heals. Imagine getting multiple paper cuts on a daily basis.
Small cuts upon cuts upon cuts. This is what microaggressions feels like. You will not die from one paper cut, but the experience of multiple insults, both verbal, nonverbal, and/ visual underpins very real consequences for me… stress, anger, frustration, self-doubt and ultimately feelings of invisibility and powerlessness.
Viewpoints 2021
Exhibit Dates: April 23 – May 28, 2021
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 25, 2-4:30pm
Location: Studio Montclair Gallery; 127 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07042
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