EXHIBITION STATEMENT

Does it all feel like too much?

It is.

We weren’t really designed to take on this much impact in such succession. This much

devastation, destruction, and death.

It’s a lot on a body.

A slow and steady burn as our current world dissolves and a new one ekes forward.

It’s hard to believe it was meant to be like this. But here we are.

Together.

We weren’t built for this. But together we can build new things that are. We can lean on

each other. We can cry together and feed each other. We can dance and make art

together. We can laugh and play sports and give away things for free.

We weren’t built for this.

We can build something new. Together.

Maybe we are built for this.

ARTIST BIO

My identity as a queer and transgender person informs how I see and move through the world and is a fundamental influence in all my work. Refusing to see the world as binary black and white, I utilize color, pattern, and texture to explore, challenge, and make meaning of lived experience.

I am interested in how the body knows about and holds on to grief and trauma. Our interior systems store our lived experiences in our fascia, gut, and bones. Working across disciplines and utilizing multiple mediums, I develop abstract paintings, sculptures, and assemblages to express the internal workings of our bodies on external surfaces.

We are impacted by grief, loss, and devastation not just individually but as a collective.

Currently, I’m interested in how we can build networks of community and mutual aid to support each other before, during, and after events of both joy and pain. Inspired by both our internal physical systems as well as environmental systems like mycelial networks, I explore the concept of (re)building network through collage and assemblage. Repurposing found material, I construct assemblages that become nontraditional surfaces for collage. After making monoprints full of color and texture, I cut them into strips and use randomized processes informed by the Dada artist movement to develop collaged sculptures and abstract images.

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Curated by Freddie Bell, Dara Baldwin and Chasity Dailey

Presented by the Durham Art Guild