On February 7 at the Museum of Contemporary and African Diosparan Art, get ready to celebrate the official opening of Vision Quest, a collection of whimsical, visual tales of powerful female protagonists on earthly and otherworldly adventures.
Artists Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski and Sheena Rose use works on paper, hand-drawn animations and mixed-media works to recount stories of voyages through time and space. Existing at the crux of the playful and the political, the artists have invented their own visual languages to document women's stories in ways that diverge from dominant narratives of female experience.
In Moleski's drawings, imagined futuristic mythologies are born. Her characters transport spectators to other dimensions, and tell stories of a potential future where femininity and queerness are valued and exalted. Referencing Egyptian hieroglyphics, beauty products, comics, spiritual archetypes and outer space,Moleski creates visionary accounts of beings who exist at the intersection of goddess and human. By defying Eurocentric art historical rules of proportion and scale,Moleski's characters exist authentically and invite onlookers to do the same.
Sheena Rose uses hand-drawn lines to document her everyday experiences and perceptions of the world around her. Originally from Barbados, West Indies, Rose is a world-traveller. She photographs her journeys across the globe and translates them into a unique language of lines, making each place she visits her own. Through line weight, texture, repetition and mixed-media interventions into her drawings, Sheena captures the energy of each landscape she illustrates. Viewers are given the opportunity to see the world through her eyes, from her particular physical perspective. Each drawing is an act of agency, personal reflection and connection to her viewers.
Curated by Isissa Komada-John,Vision Quest examines travel, whether cross-continental or to another galaxy, as a tool for escaping the confines of stereotypes, and an opportunity for self-exploration and definition.
The opening reception for Vision Quest will be on Saturday, February 7, from 6:00pm - 9:00pm at MoCADA, located at 80 Hanson Pl. Sounds by Ushka and beer lovingly provided by Brooklyn Brewery.
Vision Quest is on display through May 31, 2015.
