Images (from left to right): Red Sister Reflecting; Orange Leaves Sister; Fight the Power Sister, 2020, digital collage on canvas.
All artwork © 2020 Antoinette Ellis-Williams
January 28 – March 3, 2022 NJCU Center of the Arts :The Visual Arts Gallery Artist Talk: February 9, 11:30 – 12:30 p.m. (in-person and online; details to be announced)
The BURN Project by Antoinette Ellis-Williams is a multi-disciplinary project which rethinks and explores the many ways black women experience “Burn” (e.g. unemployment, appropriation, dismissal, isolation, gentrification, cooptation, physical and sexual abuse, exploitation, etc.) and simultaneously their unique agency to set things on “Fiya” (aka fire) and heal. During her sabbatical from NJCU in Fall 2020, she began ethnographic research by interviewing 14 women, created new visual art and literary works to develop multimedia installations. Utilizing gender theories of intersectionality, black feminism, and healing paradigms, The BURN Project unpacks and explores some of the historical, sociopolitical, economic and cultural contexts in which black women suffer(ed) “Burn” locally, nationally and globally. All viewers are invited to tap into an individual memory of pain and recovery through a personal engagement with the work.
Dr. Ellis-Williams is a Jamaican-born, mixed media artist, poet, playwright, filmmaker, and minister. She is the author of Black Gardenias: A Collection of Poems, Stories, & Sayings. Her one woman play Scarf Diaries premiered at NJPAC in 2017. Her documentary film, Lee Hagan: Connecting Generations (2016) won best short documentary at the Newark Black Film Festival. Dr. Ellis-Williams is a highly sought after international public speaker. Her TEDx Talk, “Finding Justice in the Land of the Free” (2015) tried to unpack her immigrant status in America. As a visual artist, she recently exhibited at Akwaaba Gallery, Bridge Art Gallery, Newark Museum of Art, Prizm Art Fair in Miami with Calabar Gallery. Dr. Ellis-Williams earned her Ph.D. in Public Policy & Urban and Regional Planning at Cornell University and is Professor of Women’s & Gender Studies at New Jersey City University.
BURN: Origins & Resistance
Solo Exhibition
NJCU Visual Arts 201-200-2197
Curator: Midori Yoshimoto myoshimoto@njcu.edu
Run of Show: January 31-March 3
Artist Talk: Feb 9, 11:30am-12:30pm
Text: NJCU Center of the Art