Oolite Arts opened its exhibition “Sites of the Self” earlier this month in collaboration with Bakehouse Art Complex.
Positioned among the hustle and bustle of the Lincoln Road Mall, the exhibition displays how Oolite’s current residents explore their own identities — a perpetual process, the works suggest.
Artists featured in the exhibition explore their senses of self through various mediums, from activations to textile prints.
“Sites of the Self” is on view now at Oolite Arts.
(Oolite Arts)
Miami-based artist Shayla Marshall, an Oolite Arts resident, highlights Black culture and the diaspora through work with installations, furniture and more.
“I’ve lived in different places between Miami, New York, LA and London, and I’ve gotten to experience a melting pot of cultures in different places and learning about different parts of the diaspora other than just my southern Black American upbringing,” Marshall said. “I just try to use my art as an act of reclamation and build worlds for us that we can exist safely in and be seen in the life we deserve to be.”
That reclamation manifests itself in her exhibition installation entitled “Grandmaster: The Sound is Now!” The sweeping exhibition features a constructed DJ booth displaying visual motifs of Black music and Black hair that in part carry from her past experience as a professional dancer.
The exhibition piece, sprawling with chess pieces and hair packages, puts viewers in a living and breathing space.
“I come from a dance background, and I really love music,” Marshall said. “It’s always been an inspiration to me, and I wanted to find a way to make space for this third space for club culture, music culture and the dance floor.”
Marshall cites community organizing as a main objective for her creativity. Her piece exemplifies that by serving as an open space that not only honors the associated cultural references but also gives them room to continue to exist.
Sheherazade Thenard, another Oolite Arts resident and Miami-based artist, showcases the Black diaspora through detailed imagery in her painting and printmaking works.
“My artistic influences have been around this desire to create a space of belonging for family, friends, queer community and working with the stories that are being shared with me. Also working to reconstruct stories of my own,” Thenard said.
Sheherazade Thenard’s painting, “Years of Questions: Years that Answer.”
(Sheherazade Thenard)
Her exhibition piece, entitled “Years of Questions: Years that Answer,” reflects how Thenard processes the constant exposure to violence and mistreatment of Black people on social media.
“This piece was carrying some of the weight of the news we’re seeing and being aware of and alarmed by, and experiencing the fatigue of the weight of this news,” she said.
Her piece depicts someone grappling with the woes of what’s happening out in the world, all experienced on a daily digital timeline.
Being based in Miami, both Marshall and Thenard expressed how the exhibition and the works featured within it are particularly important for local residents to experience.
“It’s not something you see often, especially in places like Miami and within these institutions. It’s not only important to me to be the artist in the space, but to be the artist who cultivates the space for people to come in and share it with you so that you’re not just benefiting from these opportunities alone,” said Marshall.
“We need to be in places that platform our stories, to see the power of the narrative. Having these platforms is essential for visibility and helps us continue the work we’re doing.”
“Sites of the Self” is on view until Sunday, Oct. 4, from noon to 5 p.m everyday at Oolite Arts, 924 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach, FL 33139. Admission is free.