Photo documented by Serena Violet Hodges.
On the Serrano, Cahuilla, Chemehuevi & Mojave's Indigenous land. |
Bio.jireh l. drake (they // them) is an unapologetic queer, black, trans non-binary baddie & abolitionist, who is reimagining life in Chicago. they are a mixed media drawing and sculpting artist & writer, who is often laughing, chanting or freestyling healing hymns.
jireh uses art to unearth & hold tenderly black trauma && dream & practice the numerous ways black folks can find healing & ease. their work has a strong sense of pattern, texture & movement. with sound & art, & their family, collectives & comrades, they are moving towards a liberated & restorative justice centered world. their work has been featured in Gallery 400, Depaul Art Museum, Hairpin Arts Center & numerous Chicago grassroots abolitionist campaigns & actions, on top of being archived at the Newberry Library. |
Artist Statement.
As a black, queer, trans abolitionist organizer I tenderly unearth trauma and imagine new worlds through my poetry, drawings and sculptures.
I sculpt with the earth– soil and dried plants. These ephemeral earth-based sculptures are installed in public spaces, and as nature erodes them, they return to the earth. This mirrors the cyclical nature of blackness as energy that cannot be destroyed; despite the relentless project of white supremacy, blackness persists, transforms, and evolves. I draw using continuous lines without checking the drawing, thereby challenging notions of control/perfection and calling up the spiritual presence to let my ancestors shape what I am documenting. I coined this as intuitive drawing, which creates a layered, erratic, unraveling work that expands beyond a traditionally rendered drawing. This practice uncovers the beauty and haunting complexities of blackness. Every project I create requires research; therefore, I turn to community for culturally and politically radical, and imaginative research. I read and look to BIPOC, queer and trans, nuerodivgent and disabled writers and artists that share my abolitionist politics; I sit at the lake shore and on my boulevard listening to what nature can tell me. I utilize public installations to ensure that my work does not live and die in academia or behind the white gallery walls, instead these multiple facets ensure my work is rooted in community. I use art to unearth black trauma and dream of healing. |
Photo documented by Serena Violet Hodges.
Installation shot of RJ27, on the Chicago Transit Authority Train. The red poster depicts three figures, ICE, police and FBI, cladded in riot gear and in the middle of their shield reads, “safety?” The poster is on top of an army recruit advertisement. |