A New Negro Spiritual: dana & Eve (2016)
A triptych portrait series that reimagines the Adam & Eve bible story in Genesis. The work redirects the point-view to Eve or Ishshah (Hebrew transliteration for "woman") to emphasize her curiosity to know through one's exploration of position, interiority, and the environment.
A New Negro Spiritual, I.
Acquired by Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
A New Negro Spiritual, II.
A New Negro Spiritual, III.
This series was part of the 2019 group exhibition titled, "Forging Territories: Queer Afro and Latinx Contemporary Art" which featured African-American and Latinx" members of the LGBTQ community pioneering in a frequently inhospitable land. It presents artists engaged in cultural storytelling that describes themselves, their friends, and their environments in striking visual ways. It is an exhibition that combines established and emerging artists with a shared queer history.
About that word, queer. Rubén Esparza, founder and director of the Queer Biennial in Los Angeles and curator of FORGING TERRITORIES, has said:
“Decades back the word QUEER was a derogatory term used to de-humanize LGBTQ people. Now we’ve subverted the word and use it to both symbolize empowerment and serve as a reminder of a people’s struggles. QUEER is an umbrella term, and under its canopy are people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming, gender fluid, poly-amorous, and questioning.”