Artist Statement

Otherness has been the center of my consciousness since the beginning of my designing career. I always wondered why Black Canadian history was uncommon knowledge and excluded from Canada’s national narrative. African Canadian history is constantly overshadowed by African American history, we know of Rosa Parks but not of Viola Desmond, a former resident of Africville. This constant erasure and exclusion of our important history leads to an overshadowing of our identity in comparison to our American neighbors. If our history is unknown or hidden away, then our experiences and identity will be too.

While you observe my work, you must look through multiple layers of meanings and symbols each print conveys. Displaying the hidden histories of both my culture, the Zimbabwe Ndebele tribe and the Black Loyalists, archiving their stories onto digital textile prints.

My process involves designing abstracted symbolic expression along with quilting which is traditionally both a Canadian and African craft. I’ve incorporated common geometric symbols found in Freedom quilts which were apart of the Underground Railroad, and iconography from my Ndebele tribe in Zimbabwe. Both cultures share a similar history of lost identity during times of oppression. Each garment with each textile print tells a story embedded within bright colors; Leaving it up to the audience whether they choose to decode the meaning and look beyond the surface.

My coded collection is a representation of my identity and the erasure that has been placed on African Canadian history.

Below is an in-process view: