Amahl

Their Eyes Were Watching Black Women

This was the first piece of my series A Place Dead Flowers Bloom. The alter was created from crutches and one of 4 casts i wore after i broke my ankle and leg in 2015. The interactive exhibit encouraged spectators to use smell, listen, play, and pray. 

I was coerced by a friend in 2015 a few months before my ankle injury that forced me to return to my childhood home where not only did i have to heal physically, but mentally and emotionally. I had lost control and my sense of self. “I used to wear flowers in my hair” I would say. My hoop, that i once carried with me everywhere, was tucked in the back of my closet. I had no sexual appetite, no attachment to my body, i lost another 10lbs, i stopped praying. 

My piece at #OperationConsentDC.

I wanted to create something that symbolized growth through bondage. As a victim of sexual assault, i have felt bound by my experiences and that can be stifling. but i remember the vines that cover entire houses and tree roots that break through concrete sidewalks and remember i too can still grow despite the things that seem to be stifling me. Flowers do not ask for permission to grow nor do they fight with the winter winds to stay. This is the art of simply being. In being, planting seeds. Im planting seeds, growing a garden. Dont worry about carrying the water. The rain will come, your seeds will grow.

The text reads:

Dream Girl 001.

"If I Am An Artist" series x Amahl