Created for Silverfish Magazine’s 002: Transition
his started as a vision. a dream. a reimagining. a rumination. this started as a vision. a dream. a reimagining. a rumination. it is all of those things.
this work is inspired by Audre Lorde’s glorious biomythography Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, and the world-building of Black futurism, such as Sun Ra’s Myth Science, and Detroit techno duo Drexciya’s album notes from their 1997 album The Quest. it is a continued exploration of the ways in which Black myth-making, creativity, and ecologies of care are, and have been, vital for our survival.
i combined paper-mache and paper-mache clay, and a creation process involving rice and cornrowing in this performance to recover this transformative praxis of Black resistance history in which African peoples, especially women and gender diverse folks, would weave rice grains and seeds in the cornrows of their hair. this practice ensured their protection and nourishment from familiar seeds as a way of resilience, sovereignty, and survival in unknown geographies. this was particularly practiced when taking long journeys, in the threat of displacment or war, but especially during the threat of the violent (and ongoing) abductions into the slave trade.
