Amiya Janelle

BS, Art and Indigenous, Race & Ethnic Studies

@gimme.the.marker

I intend to engage with Black identity by reflecting on how settler colonialism and heteropatriarchy racialize and gender Black bodies in the United States. I’m interested in how these systems impact perceptions of Black hair and how this relates to the lived experiences of Blackness. Moreover, how they relate to enforcement of gender and heterosexuality onto Black bodies. I am also considering colorism and texturism and how the racialization and gendering of Blackness differs given skin tone and hair texture. Ultimately, how Blackness is defined by others and the self is always in conversation with white heteropatriarchy and settler colonialism.

acab, 2023, watercolor, gouache, oil pastel, marker, 9 x 12 inches

Reflections on Black Hair Care

2022, stoneware with glaze, acrylic on wood, glass beads, plastic, variable dimensions

Living Expressions of Blackness

2023, stoneware and earthenware with glaze and gouache, 2 x 2 x 2 inches

Swampy

2023, watercolor, gouache, oil pastel, marker, 9 x 12 inches