Swan House Summer Exhibitions (tuesdays)

From the venue:

kin to red dirt on white carpets
Jasmine Nicole Williams

 
Curated by Sierra King

August 1 - September 5

Reception: Thursday, August 1, 6-9pm Artist Talk: Saturday, August 24, 3pm

The Swan Coach House Gallery is pleased to present kin to red dirt on white carpets, a print exhibition featuring works by Jasmine Nicole Williams. The exhibition is curated by Sierra King.

“kin to red dirt on white carpets is a reclamation of my humanity. 

Growing up as a girl in the southern United States, every part of me was conditioned to shrink. My body too wide, my emotions too deep, my voice too loud. Through this experience, I learned to question everything around me. 

Who does my slimming down,
numbing out, and shutting up 
benefit? 

Why am I 
asked to forgo my personhood 
to fit an ideal?

What are the consequences 
of being disembodied?
of being embodied?

To what end 
does living a half-life serve 
when I am certain of a whole death?

This line of questioning led me to understand the varied systems of oppression that thrive on my dehumanization. The question of my sex and race thickened the humid air around me. The lies about who I am and how I am supposed to act as a southern black girl were meant to drown me. To survive, I challenged the brand of misogyny and anti-blackness widely taught and unquestionably believed in the South. Due to the fragility of sexist and racist ideology, provision and protection ran dry once I moved away from passively engaging with the world around me and into actively seeking what was true and correct. I found the truth in my mother’s hips and the correct line in the life of freedom fighters in the U.S. and Global South. I began to see the individual moments in my life where I was othered and neglected as evidence of a common enemy and connections to a collective struggle for freedom and liberation. Resisting indignity is where I recovered parts of my humanity lost to contortion and conformity. Through resistance, I discovered a light in the world and myself worth fighting for and protecting.

kin to red dirt on white carpets shows us that we impact our space as much as our space impacts us. Embarking on the reclamation process required full embodiment to see myself and the world. Utilizing relief printmaking, kin to red dirt on white carpets is an exhibition that encourages intuitive understanding and provides a framework for the reclamation process. With this understanding, we envision a way forward, certain that what we want and need is core to fulfilling a dignified life.”

- Jasmine Nicole Williams

This exhibition is sponsored by an anonymous donor.