Drink Water. Live Softly. Remember to Breathe.
I’m Maya and I’m a part time ceramic artist living on the west coast. I create art that invites you to think about time and space as abstract and constructed by our desires to be anywhere but where we currently reside. I use clay and digital/traditional drawing techniques to materialize spacious scenes I imagine provides Black and Queer folks ample area to rest. My work presents snapshots of the hidden worlds, unacknowledged softness, and endless possibilities of building futures that cradle all of us.
B.E. stands for Barely Elsewhere
Barely Elsewhere pays homepage to the years I spent in graduate school earning my Ph.D in Sociology. I specialized in archives, television, and Black culture. This focus left me wondering how do artists create new ways of knowing and being while still living in the present. It’s like having one foot inside of this reality while simultaneously stepping into a new one. The expression “Barely Elsewhere” came about while studying creatives like Terence Nance, Renee Gladman, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs that offer beautiful ways to share a moment or promise. Ultimately, “Barely Elsewhere” reminds me that emergence and new worlds necessitate sketching multiple paths towards expression. I hope you feel it too!
