Williamson And Akpem

Williamson and Apkem Artist Statements Tamasha Williamson Born and raised in Chicago, Tamasha received a BFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned her MFA at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.

Her work explores ideas of the construction of a/our society and various "-isms" existing within it; and how those "-isms" dictate our placement within that structure through the use of text, image and the study of language as it reflects our culture.

D. Akpem In a performance and installation that revises the storybook character Rapunzel, D. Denenge Akpem transforms herself into what she calls “a space sea siren hybrid human–jellyfish” replete with dangling lighted fiber-optic tentacles. She spawns a surreal environment where “afri-futurism,” the aquatic world, and fairy tales meet, while also subversively flirting with representations of black femininity, seduction, and repulsion and what constitutes a damsel-in distress.

Image: Sketch for Rapunzel Revisited: An Afri-sci-fisea1 of 20 |Installation view: Rapunzel Revisited: An Afrisci-fi Space Sea Siren Tale. 2006, wood, metal, Nigerian wax print, silk, fiberoptic cable, video, soundscape, chalk, pink sand, binoculars, performance. Installation for the MCA. Photo © Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Photo by Michael David Rose http://tamashawilliamson.com/ denenge.com

siren Tale, 2006. Courtesy of the artist and MCA.