I identify as an interdisciplinary writer and poet.
My practice explores the human journey of learning to live as a mind inside of a body and how we are all on our own paths of figuring out how to navigate this mind boggling thing called life.
I let my inner child play with different forms and mediums in which I choose to deliver my writing. As a writer at an art school, I’ve been allowed to explore this idea of words being more than just text and am able to play around with how I want my writing and poetry represented, whether that be through physically through installation pieces and collages or playing with how the text lays on the page with different forms of poetry.
In my work, I draw a lot on the relationship between the body and mind, and how that relationship is impacted when brought up against outside forces, whether that be familial relationships, mental health issues, dating in the twenty-first century, and political issues and identities. As someone who doesn’t always feel at home in their body because of depression, anxiety, ADHD, and being a black queer woman in America, I have this oftentimes overlooked perspective of what living in a body can look like. I imbed these themes in my fiction, nonfiction and poetry.
I also consider my Instagram feed as an extension of my practice because of the energy and care I’ve taken to consider its aesthetic. I use it not only as a place to share my work and my journey but to cultivate a community of writers who share each other’s work and to find resources for writing. I take inspiration from other creators like @hxneyscribbles @authordani @so_many_ocs and so many more.
I use the digital platform to show and uplift the beauty of blackness and black women. Growing up, I didn’t see a lot of black women being celebrated — I saw boxes and restrictions placed on them and, in turn, myself. I used to hate myself and felt I was ugly because the media I was consuming couldn’t affirm my blackness. Now there is a new importance placed on diversity. My younger sister gets to grow up and see black women being uplifted. And even the blackness being shown is diverse – there’s black women with different hairstyles, different body types, different skin tones. There’s so much more out there and I use my platform to honor and celebrate that. I also platform the use of mask wearing on my platform. Mask wearing has become a political sign of community care as well as a way to mitigate the risk of COVID and as that is a big part of my practice and my work, I wanted to make sure it is something visible visually as well.
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