irene antonia diane reece

ARTIST PRACTICE

My practice is cathartic; it is a form of therapy for me. A catch-and-release method. I utilize my camera, archives, objects, and identity to cultivate the work. It is multi-faceted with the layering of narratives, emotions, and experiences, and all intersect with one another. The topics surrounding my work are the African diaspora, social injustice, family histories, re-memory, and community health. My practice continues by decentralizing the white gaze in photography, confronting the violence of the camera, paying homage to Black Southern pride, protecting Black archives, and showcasing the complexities of Black identity.

There is a form of collaboration and respiration within these series I create. From uncovering histories of land, circulating information about Black historical communities, to my own kin's life in rural Texas. I find the sources and cultivation not purely by my own but by family upbringings, Black and Indigenous authors, womanists, musicians, community, and kin alike. The intentions are to continue to grow as an artist--to learn and unlearn--to continue contributing to the research and expressions of those before me, and I pray that it follows.

”The archives radicalized me.”

-Irene Antonia Diane Reece