Lelia Contee, Contributing Writer
From gallery walls to projected screens, Black Art Student Empowerment, or BASE, at VCU, worked with multiple organizations to platform students’ artistry across mediums.
BASE and Black Cinema Society hosted a screening that featured six Black student films, exploring Black identity, culture, community and experiences at The Depot on Feb. 20. BASE also hosted an exhibition called “Black Fidelity: Crafted in the Storm,” that will run until Feb. 28 at the Anderson.
Kailah Augustine, co-president of the Black Cinema Society, hopes the screening inspired audiences to create and share their art or simply enjoy the immersive experience.
The films presented were: “Why Was I Born So Different,” by Kendell Liverpool; “Music is My Drug,” by Janiya Taylor and Jack Pendleton; “Strange Fruit,” by Ashley Davis; “At the Tone,” by Aja Williams and George Weston; “Different,” by Amanda Malcolm; and “Mama’s Roots,” by Ash Jones and Joy Sharpe.
The short films examined how Black people navigate a world that dehumanizes them while still finding connection and belonging, according to Yterniti Williams, the president of BASE.
“Art is a driver of culture,” Yterniti Williams said. “Art is expression, is freedom, is one of the few things you have for certain that you can always create, no matter what.”
In the exhibition, students explored themes of radical joy, creative agency and relief in times of anguish.
Shaeley Lincoln, a fourth-year sculpture and extended media student, crafted three pieces for the exhibit: “Reminisce,” “Mankind” and “Artist in the Bricks.”
Lincoln’s “Reminisce” uses incense, hair and regrowth to symbolize her family heritage and connection to her father. “Mankind,” a blue portrait with “little sad faces” drawn inside the pupil, represents collective human emotion and functions as an incense burner, where smoke rises from the head.
“Artist in the Bricks,” Lincoln’s final piece, features a collection of bricks with a carved marble face to represent the history of enslavement and its influence on Southern architecture.
“Although I’m dealing with heavy messages, I still want people to feel emotions that they’ll lead with joy or lead with some kind of self-reflection on their own life or history,” Lincoln said.
Grace Sharpe, a fourth-year painting and printmaking student, featured two pieces at the exhibition titled “Protection” and “Uncover.”
“Protection” is a sculptural window piece painted in haint blue with silver crosses in reference to Gullah Geechee culture, Christianity and vampirism, according to Sharpe. The second piece, “Uncovered,” reflects the 1786 Tignon Laws that forced Black women to cover their hair. The piece includes a canvas, headscarf and two braids on the side, according to Sharpe. She printed the braids on top of the headpiece as a sign of rebellion against Black hair oppression.
Aja Williams, a third-year painting and printmaking student, featured their piece “Tens.”
The piece depicts a figure joyfully listening to House and Ballroom music, representative of the joy within the Ballroom community, according to Aja Williams. It serves as a commentary on Ballroom culture and gender expression, drawing inspiration from model Grace Jones’ magazine shoots and the television series “Pose.”
“I hope that they [attendees] feel the same way as the figure feels — they feel like dancing, they feel like listening to music and just being unapologetic about themselves,” Aja Williams said.
BASE will be hosting an Artist Alley event, where local artists can showcase their work, at the Institute for Contemporary Art on March 6 at 4 p.m. Information can be found on their instagram @baseatvcu.