Ashley Powell

 

I am in pain. My art practice is a remnant of my suffering, but also an antidote that brings about healing. The afflictions I suffer from are self-hate, trauma, pain and an unbearable and deafening indignation. Racism and societal oppression are the source of these afflictions. White privilege, societal benefits that many people who are Caucasian are born into, and compliance only serve to exacerbate these symptoms. Non-white suffering is the greatest psychological detriment that I have ever faced, and one that many individuals undoubtedly face as well. It results in a trauma that is perhaps more destructive and damaging than any physical, legislative, or societal oppression an individual may ever face.

 

My art practice does not self-police these afflictions but gives agency to them and uses pain, narrative, and trauma as a medium of expression and as grounds for arguing a need for social change. Some pieces, like my Discussions on Hair body of work, utilize materials like rope, hair, and tar to speak materially about the black narrative. Other works, like Twerk and Our Compliance, use very specific text and iconography that reference historical struggles that have evolved and survive as contemporary struggles.

 

Overall, I aim to instigate dialogues of contemplation, healing, accountability, and empathy with the viewer. This is to encourage individuals to not only actively consider racism and societal oppression, which is too often ignored, but to make an actual effort to go against them as well, as it is a delusion to believe that we can change society without first changing ourselves.