We recently connected with freedom clay and have shared our conversation below.

freedom clay, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

In 2015, I took a huge leap of faith and left a “secure” local government position to pursue/explore my creative career full-time. There were a couple of life happenings that informed my decision: 1) My Mother was responding to chronic health challenges; 2) I was very unhappy in my position at that time. It was a completely overwhelming season in my life to say the least. My plan after submitting my resignation was to re-set, be there for my Mother and to focus on cultivating my burgeoning creative career. Fast forward, what I thought was going to be a few months being out of the traditional workforce turned into almost seven years working as a creative entrepreneur and educational consultant.

freedom clay, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My body of work celebrates the multi-dimensional facets and the plight of Black people in America by celebrating and affirming our beauty and humanity. This is largely done by creating paintings in response to what’s going on personally, socially, and politically and how these contexts inform how individuals are perceived and treated in broader society. Developing vivid colors and my ability to capture and provoke emotion in my seemingly “faceless” paintings have become unique characteristics to my aesthetic. As a proud, humble, and evolving He-ARTist from the south, it is my earnest hope that my work continues to interrogate and provoke wonder in the viewer, inspire imagination, life-affirming and critical conversations while addressing, responding, or reacting to disparate sociopolitical and cultural issues involving human equity, race, class, gender, stigma, and sexuality.

I’m exceptionally proud to have one of my creations, “We ARE ALL the FACE of HIV/AIDS,” unanimously chosen to be on the cover of the January/February 2016 special edition, “Public Health Reports.” This public health professional journal, published by the office of the U.S. Surgeon General, focused on implementing routine HIV screening in clinical settings. This coveted creation was also on exhibit in New York City at La Mama Galleria. Another one of my creations, “Little Girl True, has become internationally recognized: becoming a beautiful symbol of beauty, pride, reflection, visibility and representation for Black girls all over the world.

I’m also proud of invitations to do solo exhibitions at N.C. A&T State University’s Lyceum Series in 2017 celebrating the Black family, “High Cotton: Paying Homage to & Celebrating My Intergenerational Roots.” This exhibition was also at N.C. State University in the African American Cultural Center in the fall of 2018 and at the Durham Center for Senior Life (February & March 2019).

Currently, I have my first solo photography exhibition, “freedom clay’s re-imagined kitchen table series: paying homage to Ms. Carrie Mae Weems”, on display at Cultivate Creative Cafe located in Durham, NC. It will be on exhibit through the end of May 2024.

In addition to being a visual artist, I’m also a writer/poet, and I’ve had the opportunity to self-publish three books. My latest publication is “Nakedly Covered,” a collection of haiku by freedom clay.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Simply, being able to create without borders, even when there is inspiration.

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

My mission is to be able to create art centered in humanity, along with the engager to make meaning of my work based on information shared, along with incorporating their lived experiences into the process.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomclay/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afrofolkartbyfreedomclay
• Twitter: @freedomclay