Imani Badillo

Encompassing both the Oracle and Gund Galleries, Residue consists of nearly 30 works ranging from sculpture, prints, textiles, and video. Exploring the artist's family history and hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, Residue brings into question the excavation of memory, mining personal archives, colonial echoes in the Caribbean, and the tensions between domestic interiors and architectural facades. The exhibition’s title repositions the term “residue” to cherish what remains rather than the negative connotations of tarnished or stained. The “residue” becomes a compass to help navigate the path forward.

The colors of the Oracle Gallery evoke commonly used house paint in Jamaica, specifically, those manufactured locally by Berger Paints Jamaica Ltd. — one of the largest monopolies on the island — which has its “colourful beginnings in 1760” and has operated in Jamaica since the mid-20th century. Designed to be affordable and durable, the “Magicote” line of colors offers a limited palette, resulting in color pairings that may seem odd outside of the Carribean.

Why We Breathe combines visual art and experimental music in a wholly collaborative work. A shared work between nine artists and musicians, visual art provides a setting for the live performance.

Inspired by the ongoing relationship I hold with the land, with family, and with individual and shared memory, I use fiber, book arts, painting, and writing to better understand how a work lives on through story and memory.

Influenced by family traditions, stories, and the concrete relationships that I hold with others, I try to work with gifted, scrap, and natural material as much as possible. In this way, I am constantly anticipating the lifetime of my work: the disintegration of fiber, the fading of pigment, or the loss in language. Just as materials are gifted to me, I also imagine how I can consciously and intentionally gift these materials in return. This method of making allows me to better understand the source of my work--by using found materials or those given to me, a finished piece will include contributions from many individuals in this growing community. This practice is understood as the creation of my own gift economy--a network of relationships built on mutual responsibility and understanding, ones built on sustainability rather than transaction.

A Study of Story Quilting:

How might intergenerational knowledge, experience, and storytelling be remembered through creative expression, especially in the practice of quilting?

Art making and creative expression remains a central part of everyday life and in important part of maintaining intergenerational memory. In the Black tradition, the story quilt has remained a symbol of freedom, community, and Black women's leadership. During the time of enslavement, story quilts were used to code paths out of the South towards freedom; a multi-use object, they were also used to document the memories and development within a family. During and after the Great Migration, story quilting remained a relevant and central tradition to Black families, especially Black women; as relatives continued to tell stories while teaching younger generations about the quilting process, individuals became aware of their own personal histories and their own agency. In this way, the story quilt is a symbol and object of freedom in the Black experience. Remaining connected to inherited knowledge and holding a listening ear to the work of one's ancestors can ensure that the same learnings are passed on and understood in years to come.

Using almost every fiber process I know, this piece is a visual representation of the knowledge passed to me from ancestors, elders, friends, family, and community partners; this quilt is how agrarian history can be told and remembered. An affirmation of many types of learned knowledge, this project might become an example for others looking for a way to connect deeply with physical place and their own cultural identity.

A Portrait of Peninsula:

This piece focuses on the ongoing relationship that individuals hold with federally preserved land. This series of painted and quilted panels documents the existence three communities before the creation of the Cuyahoga Valley National Parks: the Indigenous communities before settler presence, the Black community in Peninsula, OH during the early 20th century, and the community living in the area during the 1970s as the park was created. The displacement of these people, especially as they intertwine with Ohio's significant history of transportation, remains evident in the current environment. By creating a textural work that addresses the life of this place, viewers will be able to touch and interact with the work just like how they might interact with the park. In this way, viewers are invited into a deeper evaluation with their own relationship to the earth.