Irene Antonia Diane Reece
My practice is cathartic. I utilize the senses of memory and my own experiences to cultivate my bodies of work. It is a form of therapy due to the topics at hand, a catch and release method. The subjects primarily deal with what is deemed familiar to the masses, such as memory, grief, identity, and emotion. When creating work I will always include a connection to the past. The influence of my own experiences or my kin. It drives me to create the work instead of contemplating new ideas. The connection is the foundation of my practice without it there is no purpose in me creating work.
My subject matters involve my racial identities, family history, social issues, and community health. The process of building my art starts with the attachment of sense; meaning the feeling I experience when I am drawn to a subject matter. It later branches out into different forms of research, from gaining historical context by reading books about the African Diaspora. I also use practices from my cultural background based that are related to my heritage of African and Latinx spirituality and rituals. I am wanting to bring my family history, cultures, and presence into my work. In return, my intent is to incorporate a sense of belonging.
The depth of my work is apparent. I am fond incorporating earthly elements into my photographic work to create a tactile experience. These objects hold a personal and cultural significance for me. Earthly elements such as dried flowers, spices, salt, hair and stone. Majority of the time the objects play on the reference of life and death or forgotten or remembering. Text is incorporated throughout my work due to being raised by a father who is a writer and his mother who was a librarian. The usage of text is another form of expression, that bellows my thoughts and inspiration from the writings of my father, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Bell Hooks, and Langston Hughes. In recent years, my own personal influences, whether they are in the arts or not, include Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Franz Fanon, Paulo Friere, Sara Ahmed, Coco Fusco, Stuart Hall, and Derrick Bell. From recent years I am wanting to relay messages that speak on eliminating the canon, uplifting Black and Brown lives, and call on liberation.
In recent years I have steered away from photographing others. Photography is a powerful tool. Imagery is how we create deception of the world we live in. I have become critical because of the deception over the year it has down to BIPOC communities. The camera was a tool of violence towards our communities and I have to be mindful of not conserving the canon. I am wanting to showcase the different forms of self-expression of my communities through my art. I am wanting to showcase the essences that made me, me. The family archives have been that new edition for me. Bringing the family archives into circulation helps fight the canon. I am showcasing my family archives, the representation of what is means for me to be Black and Mexican. The curation and narrative I create with these various series stemmed from wanting to protect my communities. It is also a spiritual practice for me. When I bring old archives back into circulation I feel I am bringing them back into their existence, spiritually. It is reminiscing to finding your deceased grandfather’s jacket or your loved one’s valuables years later, you feel they are there. That is the feeling I will continue to emulate in my work.
I have created my different series that parallel with each other because the experiences in my work intersect one another. Being a Black Mexican woman experiences are entirely different than someone like my father, who is a Black man. I wanting to show the main focus in my work is not linear. Each series is an experience, a narrative that needs to be told and given light. My work is forever growing and forever changing. I can not sit here and express that each series is complete because they are not. I will always curate, listen, and change the world. Because as I grow through the years, my beliefs change, my style changes, and I am left needing to change my work with me. The work is a representation of myself and it metaphorically lives just as me. www.irenereece.com
