ARTIST STATEMENT
Though I design objects, I am a writer and researcher first. The objects I create play with information I find in academic texts and use materials found in childhood to communicate complex information. Using the simplest design solutions possible, I design objects to help an audience materially connect with academic subject matter. I am inspired by the opportunity to rethink how to communicate ideas using the symbolic, logical-mathematical aspects of African American literature and language in my designs. Themes central to my work include concepts of play and translation. What I aim to create are whimsical material objects that communicate using African American ways of organizing, seeing, and understanding.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born 1989 in Houston, Texas, Schetauna Powell began her academic career in English Literature and African American Studies, earning a BA and an MA in each subject respectively. After a brief period of autodidactic study in Fine Art, Powell was accepted into the School of Art Institute with the full tuition New Artist Scholarship from 2022 to 2024, graduating May 2024 with honors. Though Powell has a long family history that reaches back to the late 1800’s in Houston, TX, since 2022 Powell has been based in Chicago, IL. Powell’s formal introduction into the professional art field began at the Museum of Fine Art Houston where she served on the staff of the Museum Education Department as the lead teaching artist over Glassel on the Go from 2016 to 2018. After her tenure at the MFAH, Powell worked as an organizer for the Black Speculative Art Movement, organizing conferences and curating art shows at the Houston Museum of African American Culture from 2018 to 2020. The success of the BSAM conferences led to Powell’s curatorial career focused on facilitation of African American cultural experiences on the topic of Black Studies and Abolition. As a fine artist Powell’s work ranges from dimensional designed objects, drafts, and paintings. Powell has participated in group shows featured in the Woman Made Gallery, Elephant Room Gallery, The Greystone Collective, and the SITE Gallery and is collected by the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection and private collections.
© Schetauna Powell