As one would imagine, support for a future in the arts for the daughter of African parents with careers in accounting and business was unlikely. Yes, 17 families.Ī mighty enormous payoff for someone whose creative endeavors only began from a pass/fail art course she enrolled in on the fly because it was impossible to fail. “I thank God that people still had money to buy art during a global pandemic.” Living only 15 minutes away from her studio, she produced and sold a lot of artwork and took care of almost 17 families back home in Uganda. Babirye saw a breakthrough in her career at the peak of the pandemic. The pandemic was a mixed bag of either success and exploration or failure and heartbreak. Those same instincts guided her through the quarantine. She told a collector who was pining over a piece, “I don’t feel you having it.” Even when gallerists and collectors push, if Babirye doesn’t feel it, she won’t budge. She admits to sitting on several incomplete pieces as long as four years old. The same instinct that tells her when an art piece is complete. The short work schedule shouldn’t be mistaken for laziness. I’m into work for three-four hours, and I’m out. ![]() She is at a desk in the middle of her Brooklyn studio under fluorescent lights with her materials around her when she says her creative process is about being in the right mood. ESSENCE caught up with featured artists Leilah Babirye and February James over Zoom and chatted about being hand-selected by Mickalene Thomas and Racquel Chevremont, creating during a pandemic, and the way mediums find the artist and not the other way around.īased on her gritty, massive sculptors (literally as tall as 15 feet), composed of debris collected from the streets of New York with elements of ceramics, metal, and wood that has been carved, welded, burned, and glazed, viewers would never expect Ugandan-born artist, Leilah Babirye to the be laid-back, but sort of bashful, kind-hearted spirit she displayed over Zoom. With over 50 works between the artists, Leilah Babirye, Torkwase Dyson, February James, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Kennedy Yanko, and Karyn Olivier- Set It Off expands the lens of Black women’s artistry, producing a meaningful event you can’t miss. Curated by icons Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas, the Set It Off exhibit will do just that in the art world. The forecast for this summer is sure to be a scorcher with the assistance of this generation’s most impactful seven Black women artists.
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