Hoop Dreams, 2024 (revisited work), Concrete & Chain
Built by Black History, 2024 (revisited work) , plaster, wood, spray paint, and resin
Piece’s of the Self, 2023, canvas, spray paint, pastel & acrylics
Hoop Dreams, 2023, concrete & chain
Sports, specifically basketball, is a staple in the black community and a positive outlet. I wanted to to use concrete as the material to solidify the permanence it holds to the community and create a relic of sorts.
Uncovering Identity, 2021, made up of multiple works
Incidents of identity, 2021, books, wood, spray paint & tar | Consuming, 2021, digital media | Black Liberation Flag, 2020, soft textile | Built by Black History (coffee table), 2021, plaster, wood, paint & ink | Growing Pains, 2020, ceramics
Utilizing multiple mediums, including ceramics, photography, digital collage, soft textile, and sculpture, my work addresses themes of resiliency through the exclusion and (mis)representation of black bodies and their contributions within America’s historical narrative. Within this investigation of cultural identity, I am interested in looking inward into notions of self through the lens of my black body.
In the installation Uncovering Identity, I aim to encapsulate a living room, reminiscent of one in my grandmother’s home, as a means to elaborate and comment on what is often one of the most central spaces in constructing one’s identity. A bookshelf filled with white books covered in tar highlight the exclusion of black bodies within white-washed, Eurocentric valued literature. Black and white photos draw attention to the consumption of blackness. A quilted black liberation flag drapes over a couch, reclaiming a history of quilting that is also asserting themes of community and care. A United States-shaped coffee table held up by black hands shed light on the unseen contributions from people of color that serve as foundations for this country, and planter vases throughout the room are symbolic of the black bodies stretched to their limits while still being vessels capable of growth. The installation intends to disrupt and dismantle a complicated and often racist history in the U.S. that has failed to offer an accurate representation of me as well as other people of color.
Solace, 2020, plaster and fire
Fragility, 2021, ceramics
James Bullock 