Artist Statement & Bio |
I'm a Black nonbinary memory worker and artist that describes themselves as a weaver of fiber, verses, and vision. I usually allow my ideas to form and lead me to the medium, but I’m primarily a fiber and materials sculptor. I grew up in Tracy, CA and spent most of my time there as a Junior Olympic competitive gymnast. I attended UC Davis and received Bachelor of Arts for both Art Studio and Design and completed an undergraduate honors thesis under the supervision of Azin Seraj and Darrin Martin.
I collect organic materials from places that are important to me; use discarded or secondhand materials that can be given a another life; and use knots, weaving, interlocking of these materials to allude to the density of personal and collective grief, memory, security, and desire. The work is very personal and up to chance in terms of the shape it becomes and the texture it takes—either instinctually or reflexively. I like to believe the vessels, tapestries, and objects I create are like abstracted self-portraits, memory-keepers, talismans, proof of life in a world sinister to Black bodies.
I consider my position as a memory worker, or more professionally, a Collections Associate at Letterform Archive a merging of my interests in art and memory, focusing on how archives can better preserve diverse bodies, objects, and experiences. Among the many tasks I have at the Archive, I pull and curate tables for artists, designers, and researchers to assist them with projects, pieces, and storytelling. I think this work is an art within itself; showing people what they asked for and also taking a request further than what they expect. Most of the time, what they didn’t expect is what thrills and delights them and steers the outcome in ways they return and thank us for. I think there’s something to be said about the humanness of this service, having conversations between memory and another creator’s work.
I was the recipient of the Freemon Gadberry Award in Art and the Freemon Gadberry Award in Sculpture in 2022 and received the New York Studio School scholarship within that same year. My work has been exhibited at notable venues such as the Afrofuturist Center, Arden Fair, Bass & Reiner, Gearbox, Gallery 1202, Holland Project Gallery, The Little Raven, Mercury20 Gallery, Root Division, The San Francisco Gallery, Textile Arts Center, WAL Public Market Gallery, and represented in the Letterform Archive Collection.
Curriculum Vitae |
Education
2022 B.A. Art Studio, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
B.A. Design, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
Awards and Grants
2022 Honorable Mention, Art Show International
Best Experimental Film, Film Fest at UC Davis
Student Staff Pick, Film Fest at UC Davis
Freemon Gadberry Award in Art
Freemon Gadberry Award in Sculpture
New York Studio School Scholarship
2021 Yale Norfolk Nomination
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Arden Fair Artist Spotlight Window Display, Sacramento, CA | Supported by: UnchARTed
Silently Violent, WAL Public Market Gallery , Sacramento, CA | Curator(s): Jazel Muñoz, Jada Haynes
2022 Obstructive Metaphors, Davis, CA
Group Exhibitions
2026 Love Fest, Red Museum, Sacramento, CA | Curator(s): Alisa Turner (upcoming)
Remembering Love, Soul Blends, Oakland, CA | Curator(s): Ezra Teshome, Leon Wan (upcoming)
2025 Common Thread, Wave Collective, SF, CA | Curator(s): Belinda Huang
/Altered/ States, E Street Gallery, Sacramento, CA | Curator(s): Ember de Boer
Zephr Coating, 120710 Gallery, Berkeley, CA | Curator(s): Hannah Gibson, Alex Ehmer
Lay of the Land, Root Division, SF, CA | Curator(s): N.A. Schultz, E. Scholz, J. Heller
This Time,A Living Room Encounter, San Francisco Gallery | Curator(s): Layne Takahashi
Ancestors in Progress II, Textile Art Center, Brooklyn, NY | Curator(s): Black Girls Sew
Beautiful Distorted, The Box SF | SF Art Week / Dorian Emerson
2024 On Accident, On Purpose, San Francisco Gallery | Curator(s): Suki Berry; Layne Takahashi
Just Another June, Root Division, SF, CA | Curator(s): Victoria Cheng, Chase Irvin, Josie Licavoli,
Maya Salcido White, and Lonnie Taylor
Hand Wash Only, Holland Project Gallery, Reno, NV | Curator(s): Anna Newman, etal.
Seeds Split Before They Bloom, SF, CA | Curator(s): Dorian Emerson
Metamorphosis, Mercury20 Gallery, Oakland, CA | Curator(s): Elena Gross
2023 Ordinary Survival Film Fest, Afrofuturist Center, Iowa
Dissonance Within the Fog, Alchemy House, SF, CA | Curator(s): Dorian Emerson
Surrounding (Self), Gallery 1202, Gilroy, CA | Curator(s): Emily McEwan-Upright
Within Sight or From Imagination, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, CA | Jury: Jeremy Morgan
Now Ain't Some Day Yet, Root Division, SF, CA | Curator(s): Jamil Nasim
Pyramid Scheme, MSP: Bass and Reiner, SF,CA
Exhibition Production
2025 Piet Zwart: Brand Architect, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Rob Saunders
10 x 10 x 10, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Letterform Archive Staff
2024 Citizen Printer, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Kelly Walters
Typographic Jazz, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Rob Saunders
2023 Subscription To Mischief, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Kate Long Stellar, Greg Lamarche,
David Villorente, Kel Troughton*
Curation
2026 Black Memory Scholar: The Language of Storytellers, Letterform Archive, SF (upcoming)
2024 A Seat at the Table: Queer*+ Intersections Lecture, Letterform Archive, SF | Curator(s): Mikhail Ganesh,
Jada Haynes, Eve Scarborough
2022 Open Ceilings, Davis, CA | Jada Haynes, Kaden Ezra Umana, Worlds Through Minds
Figuratively Speaking, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA
Displace Amnesia, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA
Fresh Stains, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA
Basement Gallery Film Fest, Davis, CA | Jada Haynes & Basement Gallery Team (BG)
2021 Adultification Anthology, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA | Jada Haynes, Neida Cruz, Amanda Thomas,
Kaden Ezra Umana, Trinity Salazar, Ren Allathkani, Katja Zimmer
Colors Group Show, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA | Jada Haynes & BG Team
Darkness Within, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA | Jada Haynes & BG Team
New Beginning (Virtual Show Series & Podcast) | Curator & Host: Jada Haynes
Publications
2025 Zephyr Coating: Winds of Transformation in Berkeley, CA, Corinne Ladner
Lay of the Land: Observations from an Immigrant Viewer, Roborant Reviews, Shrey Purohit
From activism to urban dreams: Sacramento’s must-see art this August, SN&R, SN&R Staff
Commissions
2025 Book Cover Design Harvard Business Publishing (soon to be published)
Archive as Community Body, Essay Photography
2024 Hand Wash Only Exhibition Catalog Essay
2022 UCD MFA Cand. Philip Byrne, Video Collaboration for Strata Gallery Solo Show “Bloom”
2021 California Studio, Raul de Nieves Performance Promotion (Media & Marketing)
Veronica Diaz Muniz, OJOXOJO Stage Projection
Work & Related Experience
Otherness Archive BIPOC Curatorial Roster, International | December 2024-Current
Collections Associate, Letterform Archive, San Francisco, CA | May 2022-Current
Contract Video Editor; Web Designer; Visual Artist, Davis, CA | 2020-Current
Lead Director of Basement Gallery, University of California, Davis | September 2020-June 2022