When I was first presented with this opportunity I was very excited. I think there's a lot of anxiety and worry that comes with graduating from school. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do or where I was going to go. I did know that one of my main missions within my art practice was to shine a light on my experience and the experiences of other black people. I have wanted a group show at CIA to really dive into these themes more deeply. So with this show we’re talking about our experiences through this lens that a lot of people can access: humor and wit. 

 

I’m really interested in how you can present the same kind of information in different ways. For example: I think Ewuresi’s work  is a really wonderful conversation about colonialism, aesthetics, and how those things have changed the people of Ghana. Then something like Derek’s portraits I think there’s something about how he’s really propelling forward into the element of afrofuturism that's intriciating. But also something that is still very timely and about what's happening now. 

 

When we went to lay out this show I really wanted the work to organically talk to each other and bounce off each other. I think each space in the gallery has its own kind of energy. 

 

With this show, I wanted it to be a space to bring people together and have these conversations. I think we’re really started to generate these conversations in a way that is really positive and exciting. Oppression is not an exciting topic. But I think black students deserve more opportunities to feel joy and safety. 

 

 “People of color, women, and gays—who now have greater access to the centers of influence than ever before—are under pressure to be well-behaved when talking about their struggles. There is an expectation that we can talk about sins but no one must be identified as a sinner: Newspapers love to describe words or deeds as “racially charged” even in those cases when it would be more honest to say “racist”; we agree that there is rampant misogyny, but misogynists are nowhere to be found; homophobia is a problem but no one is homophobic. One cumulative effect of this policed language is that when someone dares to point out something as obvious as white privilege, it is seen as unduly provocative. Marginalized voices in America have fewer and fewer avenues to speak plainly about what they suffer; the effect of this enforced civility is that those voices are falsified or blocked entirely from the discourse.” (The White Savior Industrial Complex, Teju Cole - The Atlantic)

 

I think in the efforts put towards ending white supremist aligning practices, it is of the most important that: we listen first. Often people do not want to be implicated. Because being implicated means that you are a “bad person who is not worth redemption”. In America, there are very small efforts at rehabilitation. Which means those who offend, end up repeating those offenses over and over again. But if at large people can not admit to themselves when they hold prejudice or how white supremacist ideals benefits them; we can not move forward. This show was my desire to talk about these struggles in a way that was not harmful to the audience (i.e.: showing images of destabilizing and desensitizing violence) but also still very critical. I wanted to listen to the artist's concerns and ideas.

 

The wit and humor for the show was a coping mechanism. I find it personally really hard to make work that is serious without feeling drained and re-upsetted by the issues. I felt this filter could help me funnel those ideas into something more helpful to myself and stay focused on the issues. Not get sucked into the blame game and go into small tangents about a million different issues. 

 

I hope with this show that me and the artist can start to envision something great for ourselves and find ways to keep pushing through. I wanted to make something I haven’t seen while at CIA, so I’m very glad to have had this opportunity. I didn’t want this show to be a way of saying “ you can’t complain about diversity but we gave you that show that one time.” I have my own issues with the school. But I hope this show can be a step in the right direction and start the conversation that has to happen. Not a PR statement or outsourcing a team to handle it but some real inward reflection.