Fabulous Brown Lady's photostream

Born in 1980 in San Jose, CA, I am a Chicago based textile artist, photographer, and performance artist. Over the past 10 years, I have encouraged a body of work that addresses the effects that the racial stereotypes and gender norms present within American culture and the media produce within the phyche of the Black, brown, female body.

Many times using my body and psyche as a model, I viscerally exposes my personal vulnerabilities regarding the effect social constructs of gender and race place upon the brown Black female body. Through physical, emotional and psychological documentation, my art takes my audience from that of the documentary and transcends into a realm of “confessional art.”

My activism and research is directed towards providing outreach, aid, and support for the LGBT youth community of color. As a woman, a Black American, and a Lesbian, I do not maintain positive assurance that the basic human rights to which I am entitled will be fully respected, and deemed as judicially valid. When my human rights are violated, I cannot guarantee that I will receive the justice I am legally promised as an American citizen. When I am in need of advocacy and I seek assistance, my access to adequate resources is often been minimal, inaccessible, and insufficient. Through the use of education, research, and the successful coalition building of compassionate and dedicated advocates, I now have greater access to the resources necessary to enable me to maintain a healthy and satisfying quality of life. It is apparent that not everyone has access to the education, resources, allies and advocates with which I was blessed. It is for these individuals that I act as an ally and an advocate.

Through the use of the arts and media, I seek to promote the creative dialogue necessary for social change and social justice to be fully realized within our local and global community. I strive to make audible the voices of marginalized individuals visually, as a means to incite communities to engage in the creative dialogue that is the impetus for social change. In an effort to ensure that the rights of all individuals are met, through the use of the arts and media, I have dedicated my voice to creatively stimulate dialogue surrounding issues of racial and gender victimization and objectification.

My work has been exhibited at several local Chicago galleries, as well as the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago. I am now in preparation for her first solo exhibit at my alma mater, The University of Illinois of Chicago, in May 2009.