www.laurelrichardson.com
Artist BioLaurel Richardson is an interdisciplinary artist based in NYC working with family lineage, collective histories and cultural memory.
See Me, 2019
Oil and Dye on Canvas
50" × 60"
Confession, 2019
Dye on Canvas
18" × 48" × 54"
Untitled, 2019
Acrylic and Dye on Canvas, Sewing Pins
50" × 50"
Heart of Light, 2019
Dye and Acrylic on Canvas, Sewing Pins
82" × 35"
Follow Mother, 2019
Oil, Acrylic,Dye and Clorox on Canvas; Metal Brass, Patina, Copper & Brass Paint
91" × 86"
Untitled, 2020
Handmade Batik
36' × 3'
Made while visiting the MFA Textile program at KNUST University, Kumasi, Ghana
Returning Assin Manso to Cape Coast, 2019-2020
Film Still and Film Clip
Materials Photo, 2020
Fabrics and Notes
We Who Fight Before Cannons, ode to Yaa Asantewaa, 2021 Dye, Acrylic, and wax on Canvas
Research Photo, 2019
Adowa Dance
Artist Statement
In my work the past meets the present. I am charting my personal history in relation to the history of the African Diaspora, while also questioning the current and historical representation of black women. I do this by reconnecting lost and unknown connections while reflecting on ideas of emergence, revelation, honor, reverence, power, presence, and resilience.
Living in a world of lost, found and crossed connections, I wonder what points connect us. Where there are borders and closed doors to shared understanding, what devices serve as tools for access?
I interrogate these questions through a path of regenerative storytelling as I sift through inherently political subjects of ancestry, family lineage, migration, cultural memory and identity.
Through painting, installation and elements of performance, I produce an interwoven surface of ideas and histories. Using dye, acrylic washes and oil paint, my work loosely references African American quilting, Asante Kente weaving patterns, and Ghanaian batik. I look for ways in which the use of fabric within West African garments is reflected throughout diasporic cultural practices.