Stories lead us to remembrance. Stories synthesize meaning from the fragments of life — the things we forget, or fail to find language for.
As a daughter of Nigerian immigrants, I fell in love with storytelling at an early age. I witnessed the way stories wove themselves through the ordinary moments of my life—in conversation, in prayer, in the names we’d been given. Almost instinctively, I learned to nurture and translate aspects of the human experience into stories that heal. As a painter and photographer—disciplines that once lacked the ability or desire to accurately render Black life, legacies, and futures–my work deliberately explores Black girlhood at the intersection of faith, providing a redemptive lens through which we can interpret our experiences.
In 2018, I founded Black Girl Miracle: a creative arts platform transforming the way Black women and girls are represented in arts, culture, and within our own communities by putting the pen back in our hands to tell our stories. BGM curates exhibits, workshops, and community events to offer Black women and girls a voice in correcting, and re-imagining, the prevailing cultural narratives surrounding our dignity, humanity, and worth.
When I consider what my contribution to the world (as an artist) might be, I hope to be remembered for how I stewarded beauty as a tool for freedom and in service of people–making art that makes us feel seen and believe that we, too, can be beautiful.
location - Columbus, Ohio
contact - hello@chinezexo.com
instagram - @chinezexo