This piece was made at the start of the BLM protests which impacted me greatly and needed an outlet to kind of give all these emotions a place. My starting point was the first chapter of Fearing the black body by Sabrina Strings called "Becoming Venus".

When talking about the Venus  we can all bring forth imagery of renaissance paintings depicting the goddess, like the famous Birth of Venus by Botticelli. These representations have formed a standard of what was perceived as beautiful during that era and which still effects the ideals of the present. The canon however lacks a sense of representation in particular regarding black women. Even though they were included, mostly as servants but also as muses in their own right depending on the region and time.

Here I am trying to lend a voice to thee Black Venus, inspired by a black Venus sculpture discussed within that first chapter. She speaks on the duality of existing yet not being present and taking hold of your own narrative.

Released in June 2020 on @meow__wolf

Watch the animation here!