Showing at the 10th Annual AfriKin Art Fair During Miami Art Week
In December 2024, I had the honor of participating in the 10th Annual AfriKin Art Fair during Miami Art Week.
The exhibition, titled “Threads of Life in Fragments of Time,” took place at Maison AfriKin in North Miami and brought together 74 artists from 33 countries, celebrating contemporary African and diasporic art through visual art, fashion, and cultural performance.
To have three of my works — Mekeda, Mila, and Sol — included in this exhibition was incredibly meaningful. AfriKin has become an important platform for artists across the African diaspora, and being selected to participate alongside so many accomplished creatives felt like a milestone in my journey as an artist.
During the week, I also had the opportunity to speak on a panel with fellow artists about the impact of art on society, sharing reflections on the role artists play in shaping how we see ourselves and the world around us. Being able to discuss my work in conversation with artists, curators, and industry leaders in real time was something I once could have only imagined.
Art has the unique ability to move us beyond the boundaries of our collective conditioning. Through the process of creating, artists draw from the past, present, and future — weaving together experience, culture, and imagination to bring something new into the world.
For me, that process is both powerful and spiritual. It requires getting still enough to listen — to the soul, and sometimes even to the echoes of our ancestors — allowing those stories to take shape through brushstrokes and color.
My work often explores the revelation of Black people in ways that are not always reflected in mainstream imagery. I seek to portray us as a unified body, connected through shared histories, vibrant cultures, resilience, and beauty despite being dispersed across the globe. Through my paintings, I weave together my Caribbean heritage, African ancestry, and American upbringing in an effort to highlight that sense of shared identity.
AfriKin’s exhibition theme, “Threads of Life in Fragments of Time,” resonated deeply with that intention.
One of the pieces included in the exhibition, Mila, reflects this idea of cultural continuity. Her name means gracious and beloved, and in Swahili it also refers to tradition and culture. While creating the work, I kept returning to a proverb: Mwacha mila ni mtumwa — to abandon your culture is to become bound.
That idea became the foundation of the piece. Through her presence — grounded in symbols of growth, lineage, and abundance — Mila represents the enduring thread of culture that continues to connect us to one another and to the past.
Having Mila, along with Mekeda and Sol, included in AfriKin’s milestone 10th anniversary exhibition was a powerful reminder that art can travel far beyond the walls of a studio, participating in larger conversations about identity, heritage, and belonging.
For that opportunity, I remain deeply grateful.