Spotlight Artist

Jamele W. Wright

South
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ReBorn 2

Colorful, abstract wall sculpture made of crumpled and layered metallic materials.

mixed media with clay on Dutch wax cloth

the land knows the truth 1

Abstract painting with vibrant splashes of yellow, green, red, and blue on a torn canvas.

mixed media on indigo hand-dyed found canvas put in the ocean at Sullivan Island, then dried on the beach in the sun

the land knows the truth 3

Colorful abstract textile with splashes of blue, orange, white, and yellow on uneven fabric.

mixed media on indigo hand-dyed found canvas put in the ocean at Sullivan Island, then dried on the beach with Spanish moss

Featured in New American Paintings1 / 3

Artist Statement

 I am a multidisciplinary artist. My work is concerned with the Black American vernacular experience. The work entails collecting and gathering found materials, Georgia red clay, and Dutch Wax cloth. I create a conversation between family, tradition, and the spiritual and material relationship between Africa and the South. My process is influenced by hip-hop, the way it gathers different cultural influences through sampling. Like the music, my work is charged with an energy passed down, then channeled through the diaspora lineage. The work is also inspired by the Great Migration of Black Americans, who left the familiar in the hope of something better.

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