CCS Alumni Magazine by College for Creative Studies

CO LLEGEFO RCRE ATIVE STU DIE S . EDU

KARISSMA YVE

Yve’s organic designs are sold in 16 retail shops around the world. “Decayed Ring,” “Stellar Ring” (both oxidized) and “Folie a deux Double Ring,” all .925 sterling silver.

XENOPHORA CEO + FOUNDER/DESIGNER

COV E R TO COV E R A former Crafts student wins a $35,000 grant to level up her experimental design and manufacturing studio. An Advertising: Design alum taps a hot rock band to help a timeless brand inspire millennials. One Fine Arts alumna uses flashy symbols to explore the lives of real Detroiters, and another uses her pen to explore a 20th-century literary icon. An Illustration alumnus creates concept art for his favorite TV show. And Communication Design grads put people-centered projects first while another uses wit to put good design in motion.

T H E S E A R E CC S A LU M N I . O N E DAY, YO U W I L L B E O N E O F T H E M .

COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES offers 12 undergraduate majors and a teacher certification program, but as you’ll see, the possibilities are limitless.

CO LLEGEFO RCRE ATIVE STU DIE S . EDU

NINA BIANCHI AND LIBBY COLE

LAKELA BROWN

THE WORK DEPARTMENT

SCULPTOR

WHEN A GOLD CHAIN ISN’T J U ST A G O L D C H A I N .

JEWELRY ALTAR Brown’s commentary on materialism, installed at CAVE Gallery, Detroit, 2016.

Detroit City of Design Summit 2016, photo courtesy of Creative Many Michigan by Sarah Nesbitt.

BA M B O O E A R R I N GS, AT L E AST T WO PA I R

COMMUNICATION DESIGNERS

The Work Department facilitated the “Human Internet Lab” at the 2016 Detroit City of Design Summit, an event for designers, community leaders, policymakers and others who want to support impactful design.

CCS asked LaKela Brown (‘05, Fine Arts) how she found art school and what she’s doing now. Here’s what she said. CCS: When did you realize that you wanted to become an artist, and how did you learn about CCS? LB: I know a lot of kids grow up understanding that [art school is a possibility], but I was just a kid who could draw. I was never in any special programs, and I certainly didn’t know or understand that I could go to art school. Somebody had to tell me. My art teacher helped me get my portfolio together. Sabrina Nelson in Admissions came to my school at some point. There was another person from my school who had gone to CCS the year before, and she knew him and connected us. My best friend’s father was a photographer, so he helped me take pictures of my work and create slides. I literally didn’t know what slides were. But it all

STATUS SYMBOL

came together.

Brown uses multiple media to harken back to a specific era — ‘90s Detroit — and her own childhood.

THE G R E AT E R GOOD

Founded in 2009 by NINA

on projects with local, national and

BIANCHI (’04, Communication

international clients from Detroit

Design) and LIBBY COLE

Future City to Commotion, a

(’04, Communication Design),

program supported by funds from

Detroit-based studio The Work

the National Telecommunications

Department is dedicated to

and Information Administration

human-centered design, which

and the U.S. Department of State.

is pretty much what it sounds like:

Cole and Bianchi developed an open-

letting the target audience have

source software platform that was

a say in the process. Designing

eventually used in Asia and Eastern

with people and not for them. The

Europe. On a project with Detroit

S O C I A L- I M PAC T D E S I G N T H AT

all-woman outfit wants to expand

Head Start Learning Network, they

the boundaries of who should have

partnered with parents who helped

G O E S B EYO N D G O O D LO O KS .

access to good design and how it

create and write language and

can help strengthen communities.

make designs.

LB: The jewelry is a status symbol. When you’re poor, you hold on

“Once you invest time and you are

“It’s not about aesthetics all

to whatever you can have, so I’m exploring that. I’m not pointing a

a part of the making, it’s hard not

the time, and we’re okay with that,”

finger at anybody; I relate to it as well. I remember growing up and

to have a connection. We see a lot

explained Cole. “To us, it’s about

wanting four-fingered rings and gold chains. So I relate to it, and I

of success when we’re able to work

using this background that we have

see the beauty in it. But I also see the desperation in it. It’s about

alongside folks instead of working

for the greater good. Are we going

materialism. I’m exploring growing up the way I did: black and

in a vacuum,” said Bianchi.

to be proud of this work? Will we

poor in Detroit at a certain time.

The Work Department has taken

be able to sleep at night?”

CCS: Your recent work sculpting and displaying symbols of old-school hip-hop — rope gold, grillz and oversized bamboo earrings — is powerful. You’ve said that the pieces aren’t really about pop culture but about growing up in Detroit in the ‘90s. How did this work come about?

CO LLEGEFO RCRE ATIVE STU DIE S . EDU

MICHAEL MAHER CONCEPT ARTIST

“Hunted,” 2015. Unofficial digital fan art Maher created in Photoshop prior to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).

MAKE IT ON H A R D WO R K? ST RA N G E R T H I N GS H AV E HAPPENED 4

CO N C E P T A RT I ST M I C H A E L

After graduating from CCS, Maher wanted to get into storyboarding for

Ray Donovan, Real Steel and the

hours to learn new programs and

film and television, and the lucrative tax incentives Michigan was offering

docuseries Cosmos: A Spacetime

become better and better. Now that

at the time put the state on the radar for production companies. It wasn’t

Odyssey, for which he received an

I have the opportunity to work on

glamorous — and it wasn’t storyboarding — but he made it work. “When the

Emmy nomination.

such a fun show, I feel like the

production designer found out I could draw and design,” he said, “she

But his favorite job so far is

preparation has paid off and I’m

helped me out and gave me a job as a graphic designer. After that, it took

working for Stranger Things, now

making the best of it.”

a lot of hard work and quite a few years to become a concept artist.”

shooting its second season.

Maher credits the good time he’s

Maher, now a seasoned professional living in Los Angeles, said the years

“When I saw the first season,” he

having now with the hours he put in

There’s no magic bullet. Most artists aren’t going to get plucked

of hard work wasn’t even the greatest challenge — that was finding his

said, “I loved it so much I binged the

back in the day. The foundation he

from obscurity or skyrocket to fame after a fateful meeting with

career path. “Having a good foundation at CCS really helped, but it’s very

whole thing in two days, ha! Now to

developed in illustration and art at

a movie producer in a soda shop (long story). And talent is more

competitive out there,” he said, “and oftentimes difficult to know what

be working on set here in Atlanta, I

CCS, he said, has created a lifelong

common than we’d like to believe, so the competition in

to aim for. But I stayed focused and worked very hard and things tend to

get to be around the kids in the show

love for the hard work.

Hollywood can be fierce.

work out when you combine those two things over a long period of time.”

all the time. They’re so fun.

“I had great, energetic instructors

“My first job was loading set dressing in and out of locations

It’s worked out pretty well. After reading a script, Maher talks with

“The really special thing about

who loved their jobs. Oftentimes

where we would shoot. Gotta start somewhere, right?” said

a director before anything is shot and creates paintings that inform

this show, is that I’ve pushed my skill

when I’m painting a concept, I still

MICHAEL MAHER, JR. (’07, Illustration) from the Atlanta

a production’s visuals. He’s worked on several movies and TV shows,

sets continually for so many other

hear my instructors’ advice. That

set of Stranger Things, Netflix’s popular sci-fi horror series.

including Argo, The Conjuring, Independence Day, Sons of Anarchy,

shows previous to this. Working long

was 10 years ago!”

M A H E R R EC E N T LY L A N D E D A D R E A M G I G WO R K I N G FO R H I S FAVO R I T E T V S H O W.

KARISSMA YVE XENOPHORA CEO + FOUNDER/DESIGNER

“I Felt a Melting in Me Spoons” (silver alloy). For a dinner party in Paris, Yve and an assistant hand cast 30 sets of silver flatware: spoons, forks and knives.

Yve cast her first ring in her mother’s basement in Brightmoor, Detroit. “Carved and Stacked Ring” ( .925 oxidized sterling silver).

Past work in progress. Laser-cut “Woolly Mammoth Ivory” set in cast sterling silver bezel for a two-part ring.

“Molten Ring,” “Mask I Pendant,” “Eye of Ra Ring” (all of .925 oxidized sterling silver), and “I Felt a Melting in Me Table Knife” (silver alloy). Photographer: Jassie UO

Pictured: Karissma Yve modeling her own jewelry. Photographer: Justin Milhouse

YO U N E E D TO K N OW K A R I SS M A YV E T H E M U LT I -TA L E N T E D D E S I G N E R L E V E L S U P A N D G I V E S BAC K TO D E T R O I T.

While making a blazer, former CCS

Her jewelry is available at 16 retailers

student KARISSMA YVE realized

around the globe.

that she wanted the jacket to have

Now, the recipient of a 2017

very specific sterling silver buttons,

$35,000 Motor City Match Grant,

and she would need to make them

Yve is building out her experimental

herself. But she had never cast metal

design manufacturing studio on the

before. “First, I cast a ring in my

Grand River Creative Corridor in

mom’s basement. Then I thought,

Detroit, Casting de Khrysopoeia,

‘OK, I’ve got the ring down, I’m sure

where she will produce metal

I can make a button.’ So I made the

jewelry, handbags and fragrances.

button. And you know what? I didn’t

After searching for a metal casting

want to finish the blazer. So I look

studio in Detroit, and finding that

at clothing design and garment

there were none in the city and few

construction as the entry point

just outside it, Yve built a place to

for my true purpose.”

cast her own metal creations, but

It’s paying off. The 24-year-old

noted, “Now I’m at the point where

CEO and founder of XENOPHORA —

I need to give back to the city. If I’m

a multidisciplinary, object-based

already developing and manufactur-

atelier and lifestyle brand that offers

ing a facility for myself, there’s no

jewelry, clothing, accessories,

reason that I shouldn’t open that up

art objects and fragrance — has a

to people with the same dream that

showroom in Paris and has shown

I have — which is to make something,

her clothing collections in Paris

to manifest, to take an idea and bring

Fashion Week as well as in Copenhagen.

it to form.”

OK GO: H OW TO DO SOME GOOD

CO LLEGEFO RCRE ATIVE STU DIE S . EDU

AMY GOZALKA OGILVY OGILVY AND & MATHER CREATIVE DIRECTOR

:46 SECONDS

OK Go’s 4.2-second music video, “The One Moment,” reveals many moments: it was one sweeping shot filmed at high frame rates.

A M Y G OZ A L K A O N H O W A C A M PA I G N TO I N S P I R E M I L L E N N I A L S TA P P E D R O C K BA N D O K G O A N D H E L P E D A B E LOV E D B R A N D P U T W H AT R E A L LY M AT T E R S BAC K O N T H E TA B L E .

I N 4. 2 10

For generations, the Morton Salt Girl

Brettschneider of Girl Forward;

One Moment” — one sweeping shot

at 45,000,000 and counting, with

has been viewed as a timeless icon,

Michelle Edgar of Music Unites; Seth

filmed at high frame rates. When the

99 percent positive engagement

but no one knew what she stood for.

Maxwell of The Thirst Project; and

video is slowed down, it reveals a

from viewers. “People were talking

AMY GOZALKA (’08, Advertising:

Haile Thomas of The Happy

number of dazzling moments, some

about Morton Salt again,” Gozalka

Design), Creative Director at Ogilvy &

Organization.

of which connect to the work of each

said. “It was one of the most talked

Mather in Chicago, and her team

“OK Go came to mind, and it wasn’t

difference maker.

about brands in the last quarter of

realized, however, that this beloved

just because they’re a cool rock band.

In the end, “The One Moment”

2016 among millennials.”

symbol could represent more than

They aligned perfectly with our ethos

garnered 10,000,000 views in its first

Watch “The One Moment” by

the product.

and what they stand for as a band.

24 hours. Organic and paid views are

OK Go at http://bit.ly/2olxZEG

The Walk Her Walk campaign

We wanted people to see beyond the

challenges how millennials think

blue canister, and we wanted to put a

of the salt brand and encourages

smile on their faces with an inspiring

them to take action with causes that

music video that leveraged our

resonate with them. Five “difference

difference makers in a unique way.”

S H E I S A FO R C E FO R G O O D A N D A R E M I N D E R

makers” who support social causes

The band agreed to partner with

T H AT W E C A N A L L M A K E A D I F F E R E N C E I F W E

across the country were chosen to

Morton Salt, and months of prep-

partner with the campaign: Adarsh

aration resulted in a 4.2-second

Alphons of Project Art; Blair

music video for their song, “The

EVEN IN THE POURING RAIN, THE GIRL IS FO R G I N G A H E A D W I T H A S M I L E O N H E R FAC E .

ST E P U P. I T ’S N OT E N O U G H TO TA L K T H E TA L K O R WA L K T H E WA L K . W E H AV E TO WA L K H E R WA L K .

CO LLEGEFO RCRE ATIVE STU DIE S . EDU

2 : 07

2 : 59

MINUTES

The OK Go shoot took three, mostly 18-hour days, with more than 100 people, including an electrical engineer, a pyrotechnician and 60 artists and designers.

Five “moments” in the video — such as water balloons and guitars exploding — connect to each difference maker’s cause featured in Morton Salt’s Walk Her Walk campaign.

2:43

3:34

MINUTES

CO LLEGEFO RCRE ATIVE STU DIE S . EDU

60%

YODA

MURALS IN MURALS IN THE MARKET,

THE LEGENDARY JEDI MASTER

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS

2018 DEBUT

AN ANNUAL FESTIVAL THAT BRINGS

WHO FIRST APPEARED IN THE

DESIGN TEAM ARE CCS ALUMNI.

ACADEMY AWARD

RALPH GILLES

WON FOR BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

AND LETTERS, ONE OF THE

COUNTRY CLUB, AN ORIGINAL

TOGETHER DETROIT, NATIONAL

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980),

HEAD OF DESIGN

FROZEN (2013).

OLDEST AND MOST PRESTIGIOUS

ANIMATED SERIES FROM DISNEY TV

AND INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS TO

CREATED BY CCS ALUMNA

FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES

CHUCK TAPPAN

HONORARY SOCIETIES IN THE

CHRIS HOUGHTON

CREATE ART IN EASTERN MARKET.

WENDY FROUD

(FCA), GLOBAL

STUDIO DEPT. LEADER

UNITED STATES.

ANIMATOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

DAN ARMAND

SCULPTOR, DOLL ARTIST,

FOR LOOK DEVELOPMENT

BRENDA GOODMAN

CO-FOUNDER

PUPPETMAKER

DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS

PAINTER

INNER STATE GALLERY/1XRUN

OF FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES’

DESIGNERS OF THE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S ON- AND OFF-TRACK COMPETITION GEAR FOR TRACKAND-FIELD ATHLETES — INCLUDING SHOES FOR USAIN BOLT — IN THE 2016 OLYMPICS.

ASTIN DAVIS GLOBAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER GUERCY EUGENE

FOOTWEAR DESIGNER PUMA

2015 AWARD IN ART FROM THE

FOOTWEAR GURUS WHO ARE MAKING THEIR MARK AT THE ICONIC GLOBAL GIANT. BENJAMIN

ASHLEY PAYNE

JEFF RASMUSSEN

UMBEREEN

NETHONGKOME

FOOTWEAR

QURESHI

SR. FOOTWEAR

DESIGNER

FOOTWEAR

DESIGNER:

NIKE

DESIGNER

INNOVATION

NIKE

10 and counting…

100%

15,000

OF GRADUATING STUDENTS

COATS DISTRIBUTED TO THOSE

ALUMNI AT TREK WHO SWEAT OVER

IN COMMUNICATION DESIGN

IN NEED IN NORTH AMERICA.

BIKES THEN SWEAT ON BIKES.

WHO SECURE POST-GRADUATE

39 PREVIOUSLY HOMELESS PEOPLE

RYAN CALLAHAN

EMPLOYMENT AT

WHO ARE NOW EMPLOYED AND HAVE

INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER

SECURED PERMANENT HOUSING FOR

JON RUSSELL

ADIDAS, ADOBE, HERMAN MILLER,

THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER

LUST, MICROSOFT, REEBOK,

VERONIKA SCOTT

ERIK EAGLEMAN

TROLLBACK, VSA PARTNERS, ETC.

CEO

R+D LEAD FOR TOWN

THE EMPOWERMENT PLAN

TREK

W H E N S O M EO N E T E L L S YO U T H EY ’ R E M A K I N G I T H A P P E N — D O I N G G O O D W O R K , F I N I S H I N G F I R ST O R FAST E ST O R B E ST — D O N ’ T J U ST TA K E T H E I R W O R D FO R I T. D O S O M E D I G G I N G . LO O K AT T H E STATS . CC S A LU M N I H AV E PUT IN THE HOURS. AND THE PROOF IS IN THE NUMBERS.

TWO BATMOBILES

MOANA, RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, PUSS IN BOOTS, KUNG FU PANDA 2,

OF GRADUATING STUDENTS

ALICE IN WONDERLAND, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, SURF’S UP,

IN TRANSPORTATION DESIGN

ONE-OFA-KIND

OPEN SEASON, I AM LEGEND, SPEED RACER

WHO SECURE POST-GRADUATE

UX DESIGN POSITION CREATED

THE DESIGN TEAM FOR 1995’S BATMAN FOREVER AND ED NATIVIDAD

DAVE HARDIN

EMPLOYMENT EVERY YEAR

FOR CCS ALUMNUS: SENIOR DESIGN

COLLABORATED ON 2016’S BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE.

SENIOR CHARACTER ANIMATOR

AT LEADING COMPANIES

STRATEGIST AND INNOVATION

TIM FLATTERY

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

ACROSS THE GLOBE.

ARCHITECT

CHAIR, ENTERTAINMENT ARTS, CCS

SPENCER CHAMBERLAIN

ED NATIVIDAD

GENERAL MOTORS

CONCEPTUAL VEHICLE DESIGNER

THERE ARE ONLY 6 IN THE HISTORY OF FILM, WHICH MEANS CCS ALUMS HAVE DESIGNED — WAIT FOR IT — A THIRD OF THEM. TIM FLATTERY LED

K N OW W H O YO U A R E CO LLEGEFO RCRE ATIVE STU DIE S . EDU

KELLI MILLER AND/OR CREATIVE DIRECTOR/DESIGN

AND 10

CO LLEGEFO RCRE ATIVE STU DIE S . EDU

Opening spread (left to right): And/Or directed and designed channel IDs for video hosting service Vevo. Detail of show opener for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO. Opposite page (top): Show opener for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. This page (top to bottom): Detail from Gender Bent, a series of three animated shorts for MTV’s Look Different campaign. Frame from one of 10 animated shorts for Nick Jr.’s Beyond the Backpack Initiative. Detail from Gender Bent.

A N D/O R R E P S W H AT G O O D D E S I G N I S N OW: T U N E D I N TO C U LT U R E , S M A RT W I T H O U T B E I N G S M U G A N D C A PA B L E O F S H A P E S H I F T I N G AC R O S S M U LT I P L E M E D I A P L AT FO R M S .

a Peabody Award-winning news

something that is both commercial

satire program on HBO. The winning

and personal. Kendra is a hilarious

pitch? A cabinet of curiosities in

humor writer; we have similar

which each so-called curiosity is a

sensibilities. We thought we could

topic within American and global

branch out on our own, so we did.”

politics, culture, entertainment, the

Miller has entered creative

economy and the environment. The

territory that isn’t necessarily native

showrunners knew that they didn’t

to her background in graphic design.

want the Trollbäck team to reinvent

But it is part and parcel to mastering

what had already been done with

design process, which allows skills to

other news satire programs, such as

transcend individual disciplines —

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

that is, once you can design

The idea, recalled Miller, was to

something, you can design anything.

tap into John Oliver’s international

“The cool thing about design is

point of view and quirky sensibility.

that it’s open-ended and it can be

Each curiosity bears a fake Latin

applied to multiple media from fine

name, including the United Nations

art to advertising to film,” said

Building, Domus Internationalis

Miller. “And I think because I started

Pancakes; an LGBT rainbow flag,

working in this motion design world

Divorcium Universalus; and the man

when I moved to New York 10 years

himself, John Oliver, Hostus Mostus.

ago, I really got excited about how

The icons are all easily updated

time can tell a story and how visual

according to current events, so like

language can add to that story.

all good design, the opener will

Because of some of the people that

continue to work for the show well

I’m introduced to and because of

Cofounded in 2014 by Creative Director/Design

allow the studio to expand into other media and

beyond the intro’s original incarnation.

the processes that you learn along

KELLI MILLER (’00, Communication Design)

cover multiple bases, including high-concept

“The thing that’s really exciting to

the way — like going on set and

and her wife, Creative Director/Copy Kendra

work and strategy and the full gamut of video

me is, if you look at the boards of

shooting something and learning

Eash, the New York-based creative studio, And/

production — shooting, editing, animation and

the concepts we pitched, they look

about cinematography and editing —

Or seems to have found a formula that works and

more. And/Or has worked with SundanceTV, MTV,

pretty similar to the opening that’s

it really is an extension of where

is hitting its stride building solid connections with

Google and Vevo and currently is developing

there. It’s pretty rare that you hit

I came from. That’s why the path

a broad array of clients.

digital out-of-home media for NBC/Universal

the nail on the head like that. We

makes sense to me.”

MOTION GRAPHIC DESIGNERS:

“We love things we call ‘bold and clever,’ but it’s

(such as newsstands, bus shelters and billboards).

didn’t have a lot of client back and

Miller does work on print-based

not exclusive to that,” said Miller. “The main thing

They’re also completing rebranding projects for

forth; they were supportive and

projects, but motion design remains

ANIMATION

to us are the relationships. We have a philosophy,

cable networks truTV and Comedy Central.

loved everything that we were doing

her passion. “I love to see messages

‘Don’t work with jerks.’ The clients who come to

Down the line, the team wants to create more

for them.”

moving and taking on a life of their

MOVIE AND TV SHOW

us are really supportive and think we have

branded content, including narrative and scripted

The Last Week Tonight project

own.”

TITLES AND CREDITS

something to say, and value our collaborative

projects like TV shows. As Miller puts it, “We’re

allowed Miller to exercise a strong

Miller fell in love with motion

approach.”

really trying to push toward something that is a

creative voice within the process

design at CCS through a course

Now in its third year, And/Or is on the come-

bit more creatively free than commercial work,

that felt truer to her aesthetic as a

called “Time-Based Media,” which

up. In late 2016, the studio moved to a new

and having those clients come to us for our

designer and artist. Six months later,

examines how graphic design works

workspace in New York’s DUMBO neighborhood,

personal voice and abilities rather than coming

she founded And/Or with Eash.

in time. “I’ve always loved film, and I

and the team includes CCS alumna LARISA

to us as a service.”

“And/Or was the chance to create

play music, so it all just clicked. I

MARTIN (’16, Communication Design),

Miller has a deep background in motion design

something I had authorship and

kept working on interactive projects

tried-and-true freelancers and a new partner.

and spent three-and-a-half years as an associate

ownership over,” explained Miller. “I

throughout my undergrad.” In

The studio’s name refers to the flexibility it offers

creative director at Trollbäck and Company

could create something on my own

graduate school, she continued to

to clients. They can work with Miller, with Eash or

where she designed and directed the show

that has a design focus but that uses

sharpen her skills in motion design,

opener for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,

humor and design together to create

video and animation.

CAREER OPTIONS FOR

3 MUSIC VIDEOS 4 MOBILE APP GRAPHICS 5 WEBSITES 6 MARQUEES AND BILLBOARDS

both. And taking on a third business partner will

CO LLEGEFO RCRE ATIVE STU DIE S . EDU

SABRINA NELSON PAINTER/MULTIMEDIA ARTIST

H I STO RY I S T H E P R ES E N T I N T H E I M AG E O F A N I CO N I C 2 0 T H C E N T U RY W R I T E R, SA B R I N A N E L S O N

Photograph courtesy of Noah Elliott Morrison (noahmo.com).

F I N D S P E R S O N A L CO N N EC T I O N .

This was going to be a story about Detroit

University in Paris last year, Nelson

native SABRINA NELSON (’91, Fine

recalled, “I felt a little bit out of place

Arts) as a young woman. This was going

when I was asked because I didn’t

to be a story about how hard-scrabble

remember reading James Baldwin.

origins in a family led by women gave

I decided that I should reintroduce

birth to an artist. This was going to be

myself to his work.”

a story rooted in a city’s civil unrest —

A bookseller recommended Baldwin’s

Nelson was born during Detroit’s 1967

The Fire Next Time, searing essays on

uprising — that not only provides the

black life in America. Nelson started

context for an artist’s work but also

doodling Baldwin while immersing

points the way forward. This was going

herself in his language. “As I was reading,

to begin at the beginning. Instead, it

I realized the connections. There were

begins now.

some lines that were so beautifully

Nelson’s work is deeply concerned

written that you have to read them out

with genesis. A painter, sculptor,

loud. I think artists become obsessive

multimedia artist and educator, her

over subjects and call them series.”

influences include Yoruba religion and

The drawings bear the intimacy of

African and Eastern philosophies, and

one friend sitting for another.

the themes of lineage and connection to

During her session at the conference,

the past are clear in many of her pieces.

she drew the writer without any source

Nelson’s 2015 installation for the Detroit

material, completing six drawings. A few

Boom City exhibition was a tribute to

months later, she started drawing Baldwin

Mary Laredo Herbeck, a visual artist,

again, initially planning one per day but

dancer and curator who died in 2010.

eventually filling two more notebooks with

The installation incorporates sound, paint

90 images in three months. “As I drew him,

and the objects of intimacy: flamenco

he came to me more and more. I kept

shoes, keys, roses, coins.

having these personal epiphanies. I felt

Her recent series, “Baptizing Myself

as if I was immersing myself in his image

in James Baldwin,” comprises drawings

so I could know him.

of the novelist, essayist and social critic

“My artwork is always a form of

that she began last year and completed in

spiritual altar,” Nelson said. “I am always

March. Invited to the International James

paying tribute to someone who has come

Baldwin Conference at the American

through this world and left a mark.”

Opposite: “Mary Laredo: She is Here Dancing,” 2015. Above: Drawings from “Baptizing Myself in James Baldwin Series,” gold ink and micron pen, 2016–2017.

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COVER ARTWORK “Stranger Wars,” 2017. An unofficial digital poster photoshopped by Michael Maher as a gift to the young actors on Stranger Things.

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