I am an interdisciplinary griot whose social practice is dedicated to telling stories about the experiences of Black Southern Americans to create physical cultural memory. My practice includes mediums: singing, painting, creative writing, oral history collections, archival display, and community programming. These mediums explore ideas of race, sexuality, colorism, motherhood, romance, joy, and oppression. In this work, I can highlight unrecognized Southern traditions and illustrate unique forms of cultural resistance that honor Southerner ancestors, and living Southerners. When I use these interconnected mediums I am contributing to the preservation of our intricate history. In return for the public, this work serves as a pathway for immersive education where viewers are allowed to unlock their power to emotionally learn and relate to the experiences of others through the viewing of art. My works can feel discomforting for some viewers, but ultimately it is a needed discomfort so that we stay connected with one another and never forget our past.

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The visual art aspect of my social practice focuses on creating non-fractionable storytelling paintings. I love to spend time picking the brains of family and friends for new stories, as well as analyzing literature and film until I finally stumble upon a particular piece of history I feel the whole world just has to know about. I then dive through physical and online archives seeking to further understand the context in whence this history existed. After that, I begin to ideate narratives that will build modern-day conversations about our past with the intention for my viewers to find understanding and a healthy relationship within our past. Visually, the Romanticism movement and the cultural folk art style are my greatest inspirations behind my paintings.

 

My creative writing, much reflects what I spend my time educating myself upon. I enjoy writing novels that reflect genres: historical fiction, southern goth, and magical realism. In 2026, I released my debut novelette that I call Honey. Honey explores the relationships between mother and daughter, romance, and self-deprecation. I love to explore Black Southern life in the past and through the lens of spirituality, adversity, and joy.

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Through my practice, I am able to meet new people from my community who are willing to share their stories for oral documentation on a site I built titled, The Bayou Recalls. I usually meet people at my exhibits coming to view the physical installations of my shows, where I complete thematic installation work using archives, literature, furniture, and even clothing fashions that correspond with my paintings. I create guided language for my viewers that narrates these paintings which I define as creative writing. I have current goals that one day I will publish historical fiction novels that are an extension of this element in my practice. At my exhibitions, patrons view and immerse themself in written guided language and opportunities for written reflection. In addition to the initial viewing of the work, patrons are invited back to my exhibits when I hold community programming where I can connect my work with academia by having lecturers, presenting artist talks, or doing performance art. In these spaces is where the hearts and souls of viewers open up and I become a bearer of new stories. 

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My music practice acts as an observation of my other mediums. It is created to embody the spirit of my stories that a visual object cannot capture. Many of my songs are written as cultural literary pieces of folklore, such as Nighttime, Burgundy Beauty, and I’ve Got Me a New Orleans Boy, written entirely without music but with a thought of melody and message. This music is meant to preserve certain Southern American patios, geography, and the overall spirit of Southern roots music in our aural consumption. These creations are inspired by my childhood growing up in Baptist churches, whaling, and group singing within a congregation of the joys and pains of a black life. During my exhibits, I look forward to allowing my music to bring forth a certain euphoric feeling of what it means to remember. I either use my music and the music of others to play aloud during my exhibits to set the scene or I have additional programming where I perform music to facilitate the immersion of live performance art.