Impasse

Stemming from my interest in issues of racial and political identity, in particular the experiences of the black body and its implications, I wanted to delve deeper into my relationship with my own black body in contemporary Western society. This led me to reflect on the representation, misrepresentation and lack of representation of black bodies. I was particularly interested in the experience of the black diaspora, how it inhabits spaces where its existence is not clearly defined, and how memory becomes crucial to securing its identity.  Exploring these themes through my own experience as an artist and member of the diaspora, I wanted to examine notions of visibility and ‘blackness’ in Western culture, as well as the political dimension inherent in the artistic expression of people of colour.  In addition, I wanted to explore the biased narratives that have been imposed on black bodies over the centuries, and to highlight the challenges of overturning them. These racialised narratives tend to make black bodies vulnerable to cultural imperialism, violence, exploitation, marginalisation and powerlessness.

In this context, how can we confront these de-humanising narratives offered by a dominant culture and, in so doing, transform our own sense of self and community? My aim is to create a work that celebrates the autonomy of black bodies and demonstrates that these harmful narratives can be challenged and transformed. One way of doing this would be to examine how a black body can occupy spaces that alienate it or seek to define it in oppressive ways, while navigating the historical projections and racial symbols that surround it.  The aim is also to highlight its civility, power, grace, sensuality, tenderness, intelligence, love and joy. This project explores how this black body, with its complex realities, can regain its humanity after being appropriated, inverted and plasticised over the last few centuries.