Ayana V. Jackson
April 2010
Ayana V. Jackson has travelled the world to make her portrait-based work, spending time in places such as South Africa, Germany, Ghana, and Mexico. Collectively, her diverse array of projects, which includes co-founding an artist space in Berlin in 2005, references the African diaspora in many parts of the world as well as attendant themes of identity and memory. The acclaimed series African by Legacy, Mexican by Birth, which has been exhibited widely and published as a catalog, explores these coexisting international cultural influences.
Just before arriving in Syracuse, Jackson spent a number of weeks at Project Row Houses in Houston, TX, where she installed her part of the multi-person exhibition, curated by William Cordova, called eco, xiang, echo: meditations on the african, andean & asian diasporas. The exhibition, which will be on view in Houston’s Third Ward until June 20, 2010, investigates societal and historical connections among cultures. Previous to the show at Project Row Houses, Jackson attended and exhibited her work in the 8th Bamako Encounters African Photography Biennial, curated by Michket Krifa and Laura Serani, in Bamako, Mali.
While at Light Work, Jackson will make use of our scanners to digitize a backlog of negatives, edit and archive her images, and begin work on a new book project that will take the form of a travelogue. She also plans to realize some large format prints of her work during her time here.
Ayana Jackson holds a BA from Spelman College, and she studied under Khaterina Sieverding at the University of Arts, Berlin. She has exhibited her work at Gallery MOMO, Johannesburg; Galerie Peter Herrmann, Berlin; Franklyn W. Williams Caribbean Cultural Center, New York City; San Francisco Mexican Museum; and Philadelphia African American Museum. She has received grant support from Inter-American Foundation, Arlington, VA; PUMA Creative; and Cultures France, among others.
