Be [The Light (Between the Earth & Sky)]
Creative Resident Exhibition
A body of work by Arijino Artistry, LaVonna Varnado Brown
“When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
— Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb”
Be [The Light (Between the Earth & Sky)] is a body of work exploring the frontier between land and sky as a natural altar. The exhibition’s intention is to highlight how the work of the Divine Feminine tethers and intercedes between the physical and spiritual realm. From Earth we move to sky. As above, so below. Feminine Amphibian. Going back through history we see how the Divine Feminine ritual of showing up as a vessel to hold space has nurtured and cradled society by contributing labor that is both seen and unseen. Weather for erotic autonomy or birthed from necessity, the work of Spiritual Protection, Healing, Nurturing, and Nourishment flows from the hands of the Divine Feminine. This sacred practice is creative in nature and could be and has been conceptualized as an art form. Art, like magic, is the science of engineering shapes, symbols, texture, and emotion to achieve a change in consciousness. Afro Futurism’s alchemizing power is in its ability to collapse time and space to make room to explore the width, depth, and breath of the sea of abundance at rest between Earth and sky. Philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways from the perspective of their lived experiences. Change has been constant, the time for transformation is now. The artist welcomes you to feel safe to explore the work and be open to notice.
Divine Feminine AfroFuture Politic of Care
To take seriously each other’s vulnerability, fragility, and precarity with clear socio-emotional boundaries according to each one’s needs. To see one another with big, world absorbing eyes. To both honor and allow space for each one to show up as they are. To enact community with an intersectional lens and practice interdependency to empower each one to another. That is AfroFuturist kinship, that’s a A Divine Feminine defined Politic of care. Politic in this context, means understanding power from the root.
Love is the root to standing in Divine Feminie Power. Bell Hooks tells us that, “Love is a combination of six ingredients: care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust.” Love is. Let us begin to review our actions for the exponential ways we can combine these ingredients to allow love to flow. Letus observe the world around us for lessons on care.
The Politic of Care is an idea conceptualized based on the thought that we are socialized to perceive the work of caring and nurturing as femnine. Who’s work is paid? Who’s work is visible? Who’s work is valid? Dignified? Acknowledged? Is care work invisibilized because it is feminized? Is your perception of all these things a result of being socialized in a cis-hetero-patriarchal society that centers whiteness? Each one’s hand is vital in cultivating a culture where we operate at our highest and best selves. We first must raise our awareness to the environment of our minds.
Be [The Light ( Between the Earth & Sky)] is a body of work exploring the frontier between land and sky as a natural altar. The exhibition’s intention is to highlight how the work of the Divine Feminine tethers and intercedes between the physical and spiritual realm. From Earth we move to sky. As above, so below. Feminine Amphibian. Going back through history we see how the Divine Feminine ritual of showing up as a vessel to hold space has nurtured and cradled society by contributing labor that is both seen and unseen.
Weather for erotic autonomy or birthed from necessity; the work of Spiritual Protection, Healing, Nurturing, and Nourishment flows from the hands of the Divine Feminine. This sacred practice is creative in nature and could be and has been conceptualized as an art form. Art, like magic, is the science of engineering shapes, symbols, texture, and emotion to achieve a change in consciousness. Afro Futurism’s alchemizing power is in its ability to collapse time and space to make room to explore the width, depth, and breath of the sea of abundance at rest between Earth and sky. Philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways from the perspective of their lived experiences. Change has been constant, the time for transformation is now.The artist welcomes you to feel safe to explore the work and be open to notice.