Black Artstory Month 2023

Black Artstory Month 2023

Shanoya Allwood (BFA Film/Video ’25)
“Eyes Like Mine – (inherited longing)”
Graphite & ink on paper
2023

Curated by Kate Therrian

About the piece:

“‘Eyes Like Mine – (inherited longing)’ renders a sense of connectivity between the black persons of today, tomorrow and the past. Black History Month is a space to encompass more than just our heroes, activists and leaders before us, but our personal histories as well.
An unacknowledged truth for many black communities across the world is that our personal histories and lineages are often lost and unknown due to the displacement of black people from slavery, colonialism, segregation and institutionalized racism, which have actively worked to erase documentation, identities and cultures. For black Americans there is a wide variance of who has photos and keepsakes from their previous generations. When looking at these disparities, it goes beyond who’s lucky and who’s not. It comes down to “who gets to remember?”.

There is an extreme discomfort and obstruction in my identity, knowing that I will never know the names or faces of the people that I share history with. Instead, I am only left with the connection that we may share some of the same facial features, the same language, culture and hair. Comfort from knowing that we may mirror each other when we braid our hair or dance to music, and that they continue to live through me, as if at times we are one in the same. I feel that it is a loss that many black people consciously and unconsciously mourn.

This piece is an imagined portal between a black person and their unknown family lineage, where for a moment they can see each other despite time. It acts as a mirror where you can see your imagined distant grandparents and cousins and so on, existing at the same age or in a similar experience as you, and builds the recognition and connection that you aren’t so different.

The piece becomes a portal between those who are forgotten and those who exist now,
where for a moment in time, you can see each other.”

Shanoya Allwood (BFA Film/Video ’25)

About Black Artstory Month:

Black Artstory Month is an annual series presented by the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership that celebrates the contributions that African Americans have made and are making within the visual and performing arts world. The Pratt School of Art has proudly participated by displaying select student work in the Myrtle Avenue facing Film/Video building windows since February 2020.