Alayna N Pernell

With Our Mothers’ Gardens (2020 – ongoing), I have spent several months researching and uncovering suppressed images of Black women held in photographic collections at the Art Institute of Chicago. The images I have found and researched depict the exploitation and violence towards Black women. In my practice, I have excavated, re-photographed, re-captioned, and re-contextualized the original works. By engaging with these images with the intervention of my hands and my body, I rescue and protect Black women’s bodies and their humanity. I also unearth their stories, individually and collectively, so that they may be seen and heard. I beg for more than the visibility of Black women in institutional collections and hopeful reparations. I also desire for the issue around institutions holding and silencing collections of visible and (in)visible violent visual depictions of Black women to be further highlighted.

With Care to Ms. Maudelle Bass Weston

Cradling My Ancestral Mother #2

With Care to You

Portrait With My Ancestral Mother

With Care to Ms. Maudelle Bass Weston

No Longer Peter Cohen's Property #5

No Longer Peter Cohen's Property #6

No Longer Peter Cohen's Property #4

No Longer Peter Cohen's Property #28

No Longer Peter Cohen's Property #16

With Care to Ms. Maudelle Bass Weston

Cradling My Ancestral Mother #2

With Care to You

Portrait With My Ancestral Mother

With Care to Ms. Maudelle Bass Weston

No Longer Peter Cohen's Property #5

No Longer Peter Cohen's Property #6

No Longer Peter Cohen's Property #4

No Longer Peter Cohen's Property #28

No Longer Peter Cohen's Property #16