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Art Spotlight: I See Us Flourishing

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BACK TO THE JOURNAL
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Art Spotlight: I See Us Flourishing

Visualizing Abundant Futures. This series of collages incorporates original photographs of our communities at Soul Fire Farm and WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village, including people, plants, and animals. I layered these images with fantastical elements and juxtapositions to project us into the desirable futures we are actively striving to create. My intention is to vividly picture ourselves in a future characterized by abundance, justice, reciprocity with the land, rest, safety, dignity, and joy, by illuminating the already present glimmers of these realities alive among us.

An image of a photographic collage a Black girl with a curly puff, happily runs through a field of grain as the sets and paints the sky. An enlarged cut out of a dandelion is layered behind her. Cut outs of three little girls are spread across the collage. A cut out of a hummingbird flies across the image, placed beside an enlarged brown bird feather at the edge of the collage.
AIR

An image of a photographic collage a Black woman with long thick black locs, crown lifted eyes closed in pure bliss, surrounded by cutouts of tall sprouted greenery and purple mushrooms.
EARTH

An image of adults lying on the green grass joyfully lifting their legs and arms up in glee, under the rainbow parachute, surrounded by sparkles of light.
JOY

An image of a photographic collage a Black woman with long black locs, wearing a white twisted tube top, floating in the depths of the sea surrounded by schools of fish, a cut out of a sea turtle and bright red crystal reefs.
WATER

An image of a photographic collage of an open field of wild daisies. Behind lies a colorful gradient sunset along the mountains. Layered on top is a little Black girl sleeping peacefully in a maroon colored hanging hammock. Beside her is a cut out of a Black woman with blonde locs sleeping calmly placed above the wild daisies.
CALM

An image of a photographic collage of cutout images of Black people tending to the Earth
TEND

An image of a photographic collage of cutout images of Black people happily holding and showing off their harvested produce surrounded by the beautiful blue sky and vibrant trees as the collage background.
HARVEST

An image of a mixed media collage, a brown and black striped spiral pattern cutout as a background, leave like structures composed of musical notes sprouting from the bottom. Cut out shapes of leaves in variety, brown, blues and red colors sprout around 2 floating brown hands, swaying in wave motion. Placed behind the hand lies a moon shaped design.
LOVE LIVES HERE

An image of a mixed media collage, a blue clouded sky sets as the background, as a brown circular woven basket is layered over it, followed by a yellow sunflower intersecting with the basket. A black and white cut out photograph of Audre Lorde is placed at the left corner over the basket. A yellow straw-like spiral surrounds at the center, and placed right underneath it is a cut out vintage photograph of a Black Woman with an afro, angled sideways, looking up.
WOVEN & WATCHING