99 Neighborhoods II (2019)
installation from Spaces We Know and preparatory pigment drawings
Press Release from Stephen Smith Fine Art, December 6, 2019:
“It is probably impossible to think about the past without giving it a metaphorical shape, such as a map or a road, or sequence of rooms and spaces from architecture.” -Eric Fernie
Much of my practice focuses on the personal stories of intimate communities often in the periphery. My art is multidisciplinary and can be viewed as whimsical and reflective, offering unique perspectives through the lenses of individuals within the South. For Spaces We Know, an exhibition featuring 99 Neighborhoods II, I source sediment, soil, and vegetation from Birmingham's neighborhoods, and convert them into art materials. Communities continue to exist due to the memories that are formed within them that become the collective memory.
By harvesting natural pigment from each of the 99 neighborhoods in Birmingham, I have been able to survey the terrain, observe pockets of communities, and learn about the survival of memories and cultural identities. Records, materials, and photographs made from these neighborhoods serve as props to memory because many of these stories are unknown to even the individuals who live within them. Memory allows us to construct identity, purpose, and meaning, but memory is not always straightforward. Juxtaposing abstract drawing and photography (from both the past and the present) alludes to the fragility of memory. History is the present in that only by recognizing how the past has survived and is currently experienced can we be a part of the present. Remembering is essential.