Lauren Dorman

J. Cole is pictured in a Toledo Mud Hens baseball jersey while performing at VH1′s 2013 Philly 4th of July Jam held in the City of Brotherly Love.

— Panthera Uncia (@annamaconachy) June 29, 2015

Select pieces from Memories of a Girl by Timothy Goodman.

I spotted an angel that night, but by time I turned around – she had disappeared. We reunited.

Growing up as the product of an interracial relationship, I have found that many questions surround my identity, my parent’s relationship and my ethnic background. I wanted to explore how families are bred through these relationships and how culture affects the ways that they’re viewed and understood. Race has created space for a lot of curiosity – and has risen questions that I still seek answers for.

I am directly addressing my blackness and the relationship I share with my mother in this video. The use of video allowed for me to create a visual language that reveals part of me that is often alluded. I am acknowledging the space of estrangement concerning interracial identities. I share an “unveiling” of my mother, who is a huge part of who I am today.

I expunge my own face, only to reveal the face of a seemingly uneasy or curious mother. I touch on my semblance metaphorically, where I express my femininity through excavating – as if I were applying thick, heavy make-up while staring into a mirror. Naturally, race and feminism are a representation of my crux.

I used traditional portrait qualities to construct a self-reflective video performance piece all in all. This piece has been exhibited and distributed throughout various museums and galleries in the Chicago area, where I lived at the time of filming.