Film/Video
I am a research-based and intuitive artist working in film, video and installation using documentary and experimental practices.Storyelling: Lucid Dream (2016)
in seclusion, self-talk; head housing conversations (2016)
Art began as a hobby. It was diaristic, low stakes, and experimentation arrived with a childhood curiosity. Art as a career quickly turned into a spin cycle of pushing through the barriers, constantly working on something and working toward something that would never gift me with a sense of fulfillment. And if I no longer believed in the importance of artmaking then something had to change.
In 2017, I decided to pursue art seriously by enrolling in graduate (art) school. Since then, I’ve worked tirelessly and produced a body of work in hyperspeed that tells a story of resistance and accomplishment despite disillusionment. Anything art-related became a task that I avoided on the to-do list.
This work has been circulated through personal websites, Tumblr blogs, photo zines, Instagram, film programs, film festivals, and exhibitions across North America. The work below explores the laboring black body forever catching its balance on unsteady ground. No one should live that way and I am happy to change that point of view.
New work and research will explore black family life, slowness, queer love, southern landscapes, hair and haircutting practices.
As a licensed barber, my expansion into hair care service and independent business links me back to all the smart, resilient, and strong-minded people down my family lineage who held trades like fixing TVs, filing taxes, or the ones who opened black-owned law practices, dance studios, and newspaper companies.
I am doing the work of my family and the continued path toward freedom. And it begins with building a life of fulfilling, creative work.
