Artist Talk: Afro Pick as Leitmotif

Artist Talk: Afro Pick as Leitmotif - narkita in conversation with Jordan Horton

Join visual artist narkita at Textile Arts Center for a conversation on the appearance of combs and afro picks as leitmotif in her surface designs. She will discuss how she reveals the spirit in the mundane to transform both the object and the viewer’s gaze. The conversation will be moderated by curator Jordan Horton.

Artist Statement

Grounded in the experience of being a Black woman in America, I engage the self and my body to create a studio practice that interlaces photography, installation, and performance. My ongoing series with combs and cyanotype – which uses the communication tool of repetition to emphasize a point – and my careful intertwining of materials like indigo and cotton create a universe charged with associations that signal the lore and legacy of the Atlantic world. My current research is grounded in transgenerational communications and stored memory in the body from the labor carried out by Black women in the Antebellum South. In the studio, I submerge my hands into the blackest ink of the indigo vat, warp my loom from back to front, assemble quilt blocks, and push needles through cloth as a means to communicate with my ancestors. I see this fellowship as a reparative strategy. As a dancer and performer, these embodied experiences are also considered a movement practice.

During the Work in Progress residency at Textile Arts Center, I will engage the rhythmic act of weaving as performance to further investigate my notions on the body as a site of production. I will also participate in an artist talk moderated by curator Jordan Horton to share my work with combs and afro picks as textile motifs.

Bio

narkita is a researcher, writer and interdisciplinary conceptual artist whose practice spans the mediums of photography, text, textiles, installation, and performance. She earned her BS in Public Relations in 2010, and a MA in Arts Politics from the Department of Art & Public Policy, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU in 2022.

Artist Statement (WIP) residency is a behind the scenes look into the studio practice of contemporary artists and designers, that engages a dialogue surrounding innovation in the field of textiles.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Textile Arts Center, 505 Carroll Street, Brooklyn, United States