We recently connected with Austin Reynolds and have shared our conversation below.

Austin, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Upon entering my first semester as a graduate student, my artwork often fell into the lines of reappropriating traditional art styles such as the old masters. Themes included the renaissance, baroque, and neoclassical movements, however, I realized I wanted my work to become more personal and reintegrate itself into historical context related to my African-American identity. Before this educational journey, I only worked in oil paint on two-dimensional surfaces, but I thankfully have stepped into sculpture through welding. My series of ARKS features four boats, with two completed. These have been the most meaningful because they’re a nod to African spiritual belief practices known as the Yoruba belief system, an offering to Orisha, and a form of remembrance for my ancestors. Honoring these different aspects has opened my artwork to new forms of being, and connecting myself to ancestral remembrance and practice feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Yoruba belief system stems from Nigeria, but made its way to the Americas via the middle passage. These practices can be both spiritual, ancestral, and more. It is a natural practice that features God and deities known as Orisha as I previously mentioned. The Orisha are functionaries of the natural world, often connected to different aspects of life itself. My work is an offering to Olokun, the keeper of secrets, who presides over the bottom two-thirds of the ocean. This is where ancestors may live as they were forced overboard, or threw themselves to escape the harsh conditions of slavery in the Americas. When I created this project of ARK related artworks, honoring those who lost their lives was imperative through this belief system. My form of working is highly ritualistic and a form of remembrance, so each item placed, piece of steel welding, limb cast, or glass placed in the works of art is done with care. My work has never entirely centered on my identity and the roots of African-American existence. Thinking of how I could work and insert my physical being into eurocentric-style painting was the highest peak I reached before my sculptures “ARK: Testament of Endurance” and “ARK: Unknown Depths” came into existence. When we take the opportunity to understand what it means to come from a past of painful endurance and transform that energy into such positivity, what we know of ourselves changes, which is why these projects are the most meaningful to me.

“ARK: Testament of Endurance” features a welded structure in the shape of a ship that is rounded, and pointed at both ends. It hangs from the ceiling, wrapped in a black transparent fabric. As a grid-like structure, floral fabrics reminiscent of my childhood home couch are sewn into it, with personal handwritten letters in its interior.

“ARK: Unknown Depths” features a ten-foot-long and five-foot-wide steel structure that is very geometric. This sculpture lies on the floor, with a black cloth lying over it. The fabric extends out, held in the air off the boat-like structure by six of my cast hands made from plaster. Underneath the very front of the boat, pointed out in a triangular shape, adorned with gold chains and beads, is glass that is a representation of dangerous waters.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am originally from Orangeburg, South Carolina, and now reside in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Home is essential in my practice and personal life, which I didn’t realize until my move. I’m sure it is that way for many people, but without knowing this, I don’t believe I’d create the work that I do. My creative process involves integrating home, family, my story, and ancestral memories. I hope that others can connect to my stories and be reminded of the empathy the world needs to rewrite horrific choices we often have made in the past.

In my professional career, I am proud to have received a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission and exhibited with ArtFields, The Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, and The Gibbes Museum in Charleston, South Carolina. The work I’ve created, although heals my life, I do this for the betterment of society. Art is commentary on our times; without artists, we wouldn’t understand the world properly.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Healing. Simply put, it is healing. We live in a divided world, and that divide grows larger each day. However, if we can remember where we started and came from and have a more profound goal in mind, maybe we can mend the harshness and apathy felt in everyday life. Although my work focuses specifically on African/African-American existence, it doesn’t mean others are separated from the core message of empathy and healing. We learn something new from everyone’s story and their differences, which is my main goal. I want difficult conversations, to be challenged, and to challenge others so that my perspective grows, but so does the world.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I’m sure I could list hundreds, but honestly, the power of networking with others. I say networking because those resources come through others, whether online, in-person, or something seen in print. Had I not spoken to a friend about grants, I would’ve never received my first one after applying to the Emerging Artist Grant through the South Carolina Arts Commission. If I hadn’t taken the chance on art in high school and later went to college, I would’ve never known that ArtField’s existed if I didn’t work part-time with my muralist professor. These growth opportunities were through the network I’ve amassed and have continued to connect with. Sometimes being shy can be a hindrance, but when you know better, you begin to blossom.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://austinreynolds.us
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/austingreynolds
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-reynolds-57726a140/

Image Credits

Images by Austin G. Reynolds.