SEAN MANUEL

The Black Psalm explores themes of individualism, expressions of gender and references to religious ideology. Refuting the idea that white divinity was the genesis and therefore absolute. The intention was not to make images of porcelain damsels and white saviors, but of ethereal Black bodies living carefree in worlds of my construction. Born out of the validity of the idea that Black people can and should be whatever we want to be, whenever and however we deem necessary. Whether it be fantastical or mundane, both are important in the liberation of the perceived Black image. This project is not revisionist, we have always existed as myths of our own stories, subjugated to the back pages of history.

@seancmanuel
seancmanuel.com

KIKI NICOLE

I am really disabled, mutable and chronic, yet invisible. I am really agender, meaning I exist out of and despite gender. In the words of Ntozake Shange, I am really colored and really sad sometimes. In this work, I attempt to honor the ways in which I and my Black trans and queer femme community keep us safe despite “safety” being inherently unattainable. It is in these affirmations, these altar-adjacent citations, these plastic adornments and wooly charms, that we sensory soothe and stim, skrt skrt gender, and curate places to hide illegible to cisgender and non-Black perceptions. We queer time in that it’s bent, limp-wristed. It takes time and care to get free. It takes rigor and failure to aestheticize the void. I say void as it is a space traditionally believed to be completely empty; to which I counter—empty? To whom?

@negritudinal.longings
kikinicole.com

KRISTEN ROWELL

During this residency, I’ve been exploring ways to embody emotions that come from pain, processing, and healing. I am interested in how each of us process our life experiences differently and how pivotal these methods are to the way we perceive ourselves and others. These works are an invitation to enjoy color, shape, and form while also thinking about the feelings you have had as you’ve healed and rebuilt yourself.

@kristenlrowell
kristenrowell.com