Art Practice

My art practice is rooted in connection with life –the life energy found in the body, in relationship with other living beings, and as part of this larger living world. I am a multidisciplinary artist meaning that I my use of medium is dependent on the intention of the work. My training is in visual art and I’ve been writing my whole life, primarily poetry. I write to hear myself feeling and I am slowly working on a speculative fiction project. If you’re in Durham you may have seen some of my site-specific installations and collaborative projects (including parade floats!). I’m in artistic community with the Southern art visioning collective Art Ain’t Innocent and most recently built festival wayfinding sculputres for Village of Wisdom’s Black Genius Fest.

My creative and healing arts work both aim to support an ever deepening and expanding felt-sense of our aliveness and the creative energy needed to continue to adapt to change.

work in progress

Vessels, or self-portrait as a vessel

“Are you a portal or a vessel?”

“I wanted to be useful. And so I was used.”

Being a birthing-body and in a primarily care-giving public role, this body of work is an attempt at troubling my sense of self, utility, and relationship through a series of paper clay sculptures that resemble water jugs. I’m curious about how we orient to our own bodies as tools or having utility, and how we project that self relationship of utility onto each other, the living world, and the tools/technology we build and use. What if we oriented to our own bodies as something other than tool, something without or beyond utility? How might that change our orientation to other living beings (and the earth), the technologies we create, or how we use tools. Alternately, if we experience ourselves and our bodies as tools with utility, how is that impacting or shaping what is possible? 

past work

How does it feel? – featured artist in curated group show on mothering*, vessel as self-portrait

Black Genius Fest – festival fabricator, 7 large scale sculptures

The HOOK – ritual performance directed by Kamara Thomas

Against the Machine – Body Technology, site specific installation, with Quay Weston, Laura Ritchie, and Patience

Pride 2024 Float, with Laura Ritchie and Patience

Art Parade Float, with Laura Ritchie and Patience

Black On Black Project – Us / Me / You, poetry installation

Good Luck America, street performance and make-up design, written and directed by Kamara Thomas

Poetry Night / Show and Tell, organizer

Super Shitty Art Show, organizer