HOW CAN WE ADDRESS THE ROOTS OF STEREOTYPES BASED IN RACISM, SEXISM, ABLEISM, QUEERPHOBIA AND MORE, THROUGH CREATIVES MEANS, TO CHANGE OUR PERCEPTION OF OURSELVES AND EACH OTHER?
TENNESHA SKYERS' LARGE-SCALE SELF-PORTRAITS OFTEN DEPICT HER DOMESTIC EXPERIENCES GROWING UP IN THE JAMAICAN SLUMS, TORONTO CANADA, IMPOVERISHED NEIGHBORHOODS ABROAD, AND HOW SHE HEALS. SHE EXPLORES DISCARDED AND ECO-FRIENDLY MEDIAS TO FIND WAYS TO MAKE ART SUSTAINABLY.
HER USE OF RECYCLED MATERIALS CREATES DEEPER CONVERSATIONS ON HOW CONSUMPTION AND WASTE DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACT THE ENVIRONMENT, LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES, COLORED COMMUNITIES, AND FINDING SOLUTIONS.
SHE STATES: "I CREATE PAINTINGS IN HOPES OF MAKING A CHANGE WITHIN THE SYSTEM BECAUSE I OFTEN THINK OF ROSA PARKS AND WHAT LIFE WOULD BE LIKE IF SHE DIDN'T
SPEAK UP AND SAY I REFUSE TO GET UP."
Tennesha is a black woman with long black hair. Her left arm cradles her right arm imitating Picasso’s painting The Absinthe Drinker. She is sitting in front of a glass of black-colored water to symbolize the polluted water in indigenous communities. She is wearing a red halter to symbolize Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The photo is a close-up photo.
