artist statements

PLATE 13 : Untitled

Pay Your Sewer Bill

In this family, when people cry they are alone. it’s a very isolating experience because people treat you like you’re invisible. they act like your tears are an unfixable leak from a faucet, or a corroded valve, and they’d rather have a high water bill than tend to loose screws.

A few hundred wasted gallons accumulate each month from the neglected plumbing. Gallons that multiply into sufficiency fit for a swimming pool. Pools that we supposedly can’t afford. Pools that live inside because of friction in the valve. Pools that build pressure in the throat. Now the washers are worn out from constricting tears that have reason to fall.

Arielbriana

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The sounds make their way to the hall and echo to one another. On any given day it’s my sorrow versus the blaring sound of mass media manipulation and mothers who never held their babies. Mothers who listen to the news but not each other. Mothers who would rather eavesdrop than engage. Mothers who project all of their own unrealized pain and trauma onto their youth and perceive them only as what they need them to be, while neglecting an entire human who was denied autonomy. These acts suppress the ability of one’s mind to consider alternatives, though somehow still increases their desire to be free.

PLATE 9: Fuchsia Holler

PLATE 11: Three’s Peak

Fuchsia Holler and Three’s Peak are a part of a larger series, Little Hollers. These two pieces embody the quaint and fairytale-like qualities of Boone NC. Eight years now, I have called this southern mountain town home. I became attached to the good feeling of being in nature, amongst the trees and far away from the white gaze. Rural landscapes quickly became the place I went to rest and daydream of prettier things. My work is the product of other worlds dreamt and the conjuring of black women makers everywhere.

PLATE 15 : CONVERGENCE

The 8”x10” analog collage, CONVERGENCE, is a meditation on the past and present colliding to envision a future of vibrant life with Black women at the helm. Inspired by Butler’s daring to imagine a future that centers Blackness, Nancey juxtaposes an archival image of an unidentified Black woman against a backdrop of the stars, which have historically represented the future even though they’re technically a view into the past. The colorful plant and animal life that adorn the sepia-toned portrait further supports the artist’s vision of creating a horizon of sorts, where time and space meet, mingle and converge into one.

(**NOTE: Images used for collage are copyright free and/or part of the public domain. Bibliography available upon request.)

PLATE 14: Sealuna Sanctuary

PLATE 16: You See Me?

Octavia Butler created alternative futures for herself and others and used writing and specifically science fiction for creating freedom and dream spaces, safe spaces for her spirit and us. I started working on these pieces at the end of Tory Lanez’s court case. I stumbled across this tweet: “40+ pieces of evidence (including a literal text of Tory apologizing) and y’all still saying he is innocent…I know y’all hate Black women but please BFFR.” - @missf.eskm, 12/23/22. The tweet hit the nail on the head for me. Frustrated by the misogynoir constantly impacting folks’ care and concern for Black women, I took a cue from Octavia and created my own dream space/freedom space. My art aims to empower Black women because I know the world hates us. We know, and still shine; stop playing with us.

“SeaLuna Sanctuary” (Plate 14): Girl, if you answer yes to any of these questions, take a break and book a trip to SeaLuna Sanctuary! Get restored and pampered by our healing waters and iconic view of Mother Moon. Eat cake, drink tea with your ancestors, and connect with other Black women and girls who need TLC. And don’t worry; we have CHILDCARE!! With top-notch security to maintain your peace and privacy, don’t waste any more time crying, hiding, and grinding! Come on through and find the many other treasures at SeaLuna Sanctuary! Girl, WE SEE YOU!

“You See Me?” (Plate 16): Are you tired of chasing your dreams within this anti-black, patriarchal, capitalist society? Have you and/or your friends and family ignored your pain and request for help because you’re a “strong black woman”? Are you abandoning parts of yourself to align with society’s standards of success?

PLATE 5: Compaasion

PLATES 6 & 7: Untitled

I’ve chosen to submit some older pieces of mine for this theme. Plate 5 titled “Compassion” is featured a woman gripping a towel, her head thrust back. I feel she evokes many different emotions and relativity in black women. She is change, she is now, she is ever present for us all. Plate 6, a black and white charcoal drawing features a mother doing her daughter’s hair. This piece is special as it represents so many of our childhoods, it is a timeless brings smiles and even unpleasant memories but is a great depiction of a pinnacle practice passed in our culture. In Plate 7, the three bantu women are tribal, they have no eyes and wear ankhs, they are an ancestral representation with allusion to supernatural capacity. Finally, there is a mural I painted showing a supernova effect. This is simple yet endless, as galaxies (other wordly), stars, space, time are all either vastly uncharted or subjective. It represents something extraordinary without limitation.