It is especially important for me to create counter-narratives which examine pedagogies of resistance, black subjectivity and the nuances of identity construction amongst marginalized female bodies of color.  In “Ms. ______(interior),” a photo and video series, I explore black subjectivity as a platform for quiet resistance. Through convoluted portraits of anonymous black women poised in fluorescent illumination and wiring, I warp time and place, transporting viewers from the real world into a contemplative space that grants fleeting access into my subject’s inaccessible psychological life. By averting my subject’s eyes, I forgo the lens of the “other”. Within this context, I am able to critique historically upheld supremacies and imagine alternate realities stripped of limitations. 

<span style= "background-color: FFFF00"> When what's "good" looks bad and what's "bad" looks good</span>

Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington DC. November 8, 2016

We are not Alone: An Exploration of Planet X debuts at the Hamiltonian Gallery in a group exhibit titled “[recombinant] fellows: RA” curated by Camilo Álvarez of Samsøñ Gallery.  This past summer as part of Hamiltonian’s Fellows Converge, I explored the cultural landscape of Boston Massachusetts. In a “Laboratory of context”, I visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Harvard’s Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African and African American Art, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s public art collection and List Visual Art Center.

We Are Not Alone: A Digital Exploration of Planet X (2016) is an experimental narrative that examines the reductive modes of identity and form. Through abstraction, 3D animation, film and html, I construct a utilitarian edifice that uses basic non-objective matter to convey the underside of our visual world. The film follows the consciousness of Alec an African American female rendering lost in the grid-like spatial terrain of Planet X. Alec an unseen presence, slowly develops corporeal form as she gains familiarity with the structural ordering of systems.

In the age of transparency, where new media, mass surveillance and neurotechnology intersect, how do we protect our inherent rights to privacy?

Please visit site, experience, watch and complete questionnaire: 

www.eoplanetx.com

HD video. TRT 4:21 Min. 2016.

Archival Inkjet Prints. 8x10. 2016

Pulling at My Labels is an experimental self-portrait which examines the social constructs of identity. I wrestle with internalized life experiences to challenge the socio-political systems that shape our psychological self and perceptive modes. 

Photography captured comes from a ritualized performance of self-actualization. In a 4min video, I capture a series of self-portraits on 35mm film. The gesture serves as a symbol of "power reclaimed." 

HD Video. TRT 15mins. 2016

She Fell From Normalcy is the third and final installment of Christie Neptune’s multi-media series Eye Of The Storm, a body of work that examines how constructs of race, gender and class limit the personal experience. Working across photography, film and new media, Neptune challenges the hegemonic system of whiteness that shapes our definitions of the “self”, and in She Fell From Normalcy, places particular emphasis on its effect on the emotional and mental health of people of color.

In She Fell From Normalcy, Christie Neptune uses sound, installation, original writing and video throughout the gallery to build a world stripped of the limitations of race, gender and class. As subject, Neptune employs two females trapped in a sterile, white environment in which they are controlled by an unseen presence; it is only after a cataclysmic break in the system that the females are granted clarity and self-recognition.

A 7min excerpt of the film was on view at the Hamiltonian Gallery (Washington, DC) from June 25, 2016-July 31, 2016.

Film is currently in festival circuit:

 http://shefellfromnormalcy.tumblr.com/

Archival Inkjet Prints. 20x20. 2014.

In this series, I invert historic roles of “object” and “viewer" to examine the social constructions of whiteness and fragility. I  trace how race, gender, and class limit the personal experiences of historically marginalized individuals on a platform of white supremacist patriarchy. 

Work In Progress. 2015.

 In Memories from Yonder, an installation incorporating distorted photography and video, I digitally weave together the visual narrative of Ebora Calder, a Guyanese immigrant senior, and I, a first generation Guyanese-American artist. In an unspoken dialogue between both the western world and Guyana, I spotlight the transformative nature of identity. I question what happens when one’s cultural foundations and values have shifted entirely because of a new environment.

Memories from Yonder depicts Calder crocheting, a popular recreational activity amongst Guyanese women. The gesture serves as a symbolic weaving of the two cultural spheres in an effort to reconcile the surmounting pressures of maintaining tradition whilst immersed in an Americanized culture. 

HD Video. TRT 4:31 Min. 2015.

Talk With Me chronicles a young woman's struggle with depression. As part of the exhibit, Silently Through The Night, it spotlights the communal effects of Trauma, Depression and the Mythos of the "Strong Black Woman" in communities of color. 

Images on the right: 

More Art Social Screening at Union Docs. Williamsburg, NY. 2015

"Woman Now" exhibit at Workhouse Art Center. Lorton, VA. 2017

Photo and Video Series. 2015.

When what lies beyond the other side of strength is trapped behind a glass wall, what can one do, but carry on? This reflection runs like merry-­go­-rounds in my head, hurdling forward, then backwards. Following the murder of Mike Brown and the riots in Ferguson, I thought a great deal about the mothers of the slain.  As Mother, how do you stand strong in the face of tragedy?

“What Was Taken” is a photo-­series which spotlights the communal effects of depression, trauma and the mythos of “the strong black woman” in communities of color.  The series depicts two women of color pressed against an unbreachable glass surface.  The gesture examines the limits of “self” and vulnerability found in communities of color.

HD video. TRT 5 Min. 2014.

Untitled #70 is a telling story of self discovery and the all encompassing battle between the conscious and subconscious. In a multimedia performance piece, I use video and Image projection to illustrate how our societal constructs cultivates one’s understanding of self. Can the “self” survive independently without such constructs? What would those images look like?

HD VIDEO 

TRT 5MIN

A series of video and photographic images from my undergraduate years at Fordham University and 2 years post college (2007-2011).