Process & Practice: Shervone Neckles in conversation with Tatiana Ginsberg

For nearly two decades, interdisciplinary artist Shervone Neckles has undertaken an intimate exploration of her Grenadian-American family's history. Revisiting her family archives, collecting oral narratives, and traveling to her homeland has unearthed a lineage of knowledge production that serves as a continuous wellspring of inspiration for her studio practice. Through her artwork she weaves together primary source materials with mixed media techniques that includes printmaking, sculpture, textiles, and installation. Her work reconstructs narratives that illuminate her own interiority, exploring her relationship to selfhood, memory and home, as well as her family's migration narrative from Grenada to the United States. During her Workspace Residency at Dieu Donné in 2021, Neckles created Memory Works, handmade paper artworks that contain ingredients from Grenadian family recipes. Considering recipes as matrilineal heirlooms, Neckles’s artworks form an archive of family traditions narrating a story of global migration and family history. In conversation with her collaborator at Dieu Donné, Director of Artistic Projects Tatiana Ginsberg, she will discuss papermaking within the context of her multifaceted artistic practice and the process of creating Memory Works.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

As an interdisciplinary artist, Shervone Neckles makes embellished textiles, prints, sculptures, installations, and public art to retell Afro-Caribbean histories and mythologies. Her multimedia installation—an examination of selfhood and memory—was featured in the 2019 Venice Biennale’s Grenada Pavilion. She also recently created an outdoor installation at the Lewis H. Latimer House Museum (Flushing, Queens) to commemorate the life and legacy of the African-American inventor, which has traveled to Downtown Brooklyn (NY), Museum of Science (Boston, MA) and Chelsea City Hall (Chelsea, MA). In 2022-2023, her work was presented in a solo exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art (Jacksonville, FL), a group exhibition at Moore College (Philadelphia, PA), and she participated in a residency Dieu Donné (Brooklyn, NY). She recently debuted a permanent public art installation, The Lunar Portal, at the University of Pittsburgh Mercy Pavilion Plaza (Pittsburgh, PA). In 2024, she has a forthcoming public art installation with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Bronx, NY. www.shervoneneckles.com

Above: Shervone Neckles, Untitled (Pepper Pot), 2022, Mixed media: pigmented cotton, scotch bonnet peppers, black eye peas, pureed dasheen leaves, green plantain, channa peas, pumpkin, turmeric, saffron, oil down seasoning and fabric trimming, 30.5 x 22 x .5 in

Banner Image: Shervone Neckles, Detail of Untitled (Morning Porridge), 2022, Mixed media: pigmented cotton with pureed yellow banana, sweet potato, batata, bulgur wheat, cornmeal, powdered milk, and grated nutmeg, casted paper sandals and fabric trimming, 31.5 x 24in x .5in

Above: Shervone Neckles

About Dieu Donné

Dieu Donné is the leading non-profit cultural institution dedicated to serving emerging and established artists through the collaborative creation of contemporary art using the process of hand papermaking.

Since 1976, Dieu Donné has introduced artists to the untapped potential of hand papermaking as an art medium through residencies, fellowships, exhibitions, workshops, artist talks, and publications. Through extensive collaborations with Master Papermakers, Dieu Donné works with artists from a wide variety of practices to explore the creative possibilities in hand papermaking – fostering experimentation and producing innovative works of art. Dieu Donné strives to teach a new visual language, providing a transformative experience that leads to artistic breakthroughs.

How to Attend

This online event will take place on Tuesday, May 21st from 1:00 —2:00 PM EST. Attendees can access the live event through Eventbrite’s Online Event Page. (Please note that you will need to log into Eventbrite to access the talk.) The talk will last approximately 45 minutes, followed by questions. This program is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $5.00.

All Dieu Donné virtual events include the option of live automated captioning. A captioned recording of this event will be posted online following the event. If you have any questions or access requests, please contact our Grant & Education Manager, Hannah Katz, at hkatz@dieudonne.org.

This program is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and generous foundation and individual support.

Banner Image: