BIOLUMINESCENT CRASH: an oozing collage (2020)

Presented as a part of The National Black Theatre & Park Avenue Armory’s 100 YEARS / 100 WOMEN initiative in 2020

One haunt-choked, sacred night, set squarely between the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, I had the opportunity to see the bioluminescent waves which had appeared on the shores of Los Angeles. Bathed in the spectral glow of the full moon and the piercing light of Venus, it was a sight profoundly life affirming at a moment steeped in death. This work is about bioluminescent blue waves and the unrelenting blue waves of police violence. At the crest of these waves sits Breonna Taylor, whose death, yet unreckoned, has impacted the landscape of this country in ways not yet fully known. This is an oozing collage, a living altar to: She of the luminous blue, She who crashes onto the shore, She who burbles forth rhythmically through cycles of American history, borne on the voices of Black women. Listen.

Project History

In preparation for the centennial of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, Park Avenue Armory, with lead partner National Black Theatre, and nine other multi-disciplinary cultural institutions across New York City, created the 100 Years | 100 Women initiative. Collectively the partners nominated 100 artists, activists, scholars, students, and community leaders to respond to the centennial and its complex legacy. 

Commissioning Partners

Park Avenue Armory, National Black Theatre, The Apollo Theater, The Juilliard School, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, The Laundromat Project, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of the Moving Image, National Sawdust, New York University  and Urban Bush Women.

I would like to thank the National Black Theatre and the Park Avenue Armory for development support in association with the creation of this work.
Please visit my project page at the 100 Years / 100 Women website and also have a look at all of the phenomenal works by artists such as Carrie Mae Weems, Deborah Willis, Renee Cox, Michelle Ndegeocello and many more
https://www.100years100women.net/participants-round2/project-one-kkt3n-rp3hl-2sgyt