DOUGH JUAN

“This exhibition is an exploration of the perception of the Black body -- how it is presented, seen, and how it survives. Through the subject of flowers - a beautiful commodity, an item of perceived joy and happiness, I find correlation between that and the Black body. There is a beauty within us and within our culture. This beauty is precious and vulnerable, and oftentimes commoditized, the same way flowers are clipped for decoration for the instant gratification of humans, promptly causing them to wither and die once removed from their soil. Flowers are also personal to me as I recollect my mother in the garden. As a child I have memories of helping her tend the garden and learning the delicate and precious nature of the various plants she was cultivating. A correlation is also drawn between a tended garden and a community or household in the same context of the black body, embodying both themes of nature and nurture, together.” - Hebru Brantley