My (accessible) Mother['s]land
My mother retired in July 2024 and moved back to Jacksonville, Florida; where a majority of my family on her side live. During a trip to Jacksonville in June 2024, I had many thoughts going through my mind the whole time. Of course I'd miss my mother, but I was also thinking of her moving would affect me and my connection to my family in Jacksonville.
These thoughts and some car conversations with my mother led me to put a title to a series that has already existed within my work and will only grow from here. "My (accessible) Mother['s]land" is a play on the term Motherland in reference to Africa. Many Black people, African Americans, American born Africans, etc. (however we may choose to identify) may not ever get the chance to visit Africa or even have the desire to do so. I personally do have a strong desire to travel to Africa (and I will), but I would never judge any of my people for their lack of desire to do so. In some regards, Jacksonville, Florida is my Motherland.
So much of my family is from there and currently lives there. My family has deeply impacted Jacksonville and continues to through a legacy of community roles like teachers and guidance counselors. The subconscious start of this series was the passing of my aunt Deborah Mosley-Norman, well-known throughout Jacksonville for being a guidance counselor at William M. Raines Senior High School for over 35 years. The (accessible) part comes into play because some of us may never be able to travel to Africa; it is not cheap.
Before June 2024, I always made work in Jacksonville whenever I would visit and I will continue to. Now there's just a name to the series.
Digital Photographs, Scans of 35mm Film Negatives, & Scans of Polaroid 600 Film
All images made between 2022 and 2024
