Drawing from literary and cultural references found in the work of Toni Morrison, Octavia E. Butler, Virginia Hamilton, and others, the project explores flight as a symbol of freedom, transcendence, resistance, and self-determination. Across Black histories and traditions, the ability to fly appears as both a spiritual power and a radical act of liberation.
The works depict Black people suspended in the air. Floating, soaring, and inhabiting the space above us. Rendered at life-size and monumental scale, the figures transform walls and public spaces into sites of imagination and possibility.
Throughout my practice, I investigate how race, gender, and identity shape our relationships to particular environments. While much of this work has focused on the street, Flight turns toward the sky. The project considers the air as an environment in its own right. A space that can be occupied, traversed, and imagined.
By placing Black bodies in the sky, Flight asks what becomes possible when we move beyond the constraints of the ground. The work imagines the air as a site of freedom, wonder, and belonging, extending a long tradition of Black storytelling into the realm of public space.
Flight, Philadelphia