September 7 through October 26, 2019
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 7, 7-10 pm
“My grandmother used to say, ‘When fear comes to visit, you invite it in so you can sit across from it and learn its face,’” says artist Nanci Amaka.
In her new exhibit at Bermudez Projects NELA/Cypress Park, Amaka uses her grandmother’s advice to deal with the fear and pain left by her mother Ije’s death, and keep from passing those scars to her baby, Ézè.
Born in Nigeria in 1982, Nanci Amaka spent her formative years in a rainforest village in southeastern Nigeria. Her mother was murdered when she was 3 or 4, and the lasting impact is worse because she doesn’t know exactly how she died: her family refuses to talk about it.
“When I found out I was pregnant, I immediately had a flood of thoughts about my own mother,” says Amaka. “The memory of her is usually triggering, and as a person who works with trauma in my art, I recognized how that could be harmful for my baby.”
Amaka, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1993, is a multi-disciplinary conceptual artist who explores trauma, memory, and the liminal space between experience and language. The trauma could come from displacement from ecological destruction and global warfare, or more personal violence, and her exploration of the trauma and how we deal with it includes the impact of traumatic memories on the body and mind. But, Amaka says, “My previous work had been about other folks’ trauma, from interviewing refugees to exploring scar stories. I’d been exploring concepts of letting go and self-identification after loss, but I hadn’t done that for myself. Having a baby was an important opportunity to take those lessons to heart.”
Ije | Ézè (pronounced EE-jay EH-zay) is a supernatural expression of vulnerability, mortality, and metamorphosis; its video, photo, and sound pieces showing Amaka actively engaged with emotions surrounding her mother’s death and, the impending birth of Ézè, her first child. After Ézè’s birth, Amaka incorporated her into the meditations, evolving the performances from ruminations on a past filled with trauma to a more active acceptance of the present moment. The artist standing as a pillar between death and life.
Through large scale photographs; videos with interconnecting narratives; and mural-sized photoscapes – visitors will be immersed in Amaka’s own catharsis; empathically experiencing loss, pain, confusion, and, ultimately, transformation.
“Inter-generational trauma is a very real thing,” Amaka says. “We inherit the unsettled quarrels of our ancestors and unknowingly pass on our pain and anger to our children. Growing up knowing about my mother is part of why I began working with trauma. I understand it intimately. It’s my responsibility to understand the burden I carry, so when I’m faced with it later, I can recognize why I’m reacting the way I am. I’d rather pass that knowledge on to my child than general anxieties around the topic of my mother.”
“In the beginning,” Amaka says, “I went on these very slow controlled walks where my whole being was consumed by thoughts and memories of Ije. I’d breathe slowly and weep when I felt it. After I had Ézè, she became more and more active and curious about the settings around us. This made me also aware of my surroundings and brought me out of my head into the environment around us.” And now, Amaka says, “I think of my mother in all settings and it doesn’t throw me off completely.” A small but important step… one you’re invited to take with Amaka in Ije | Ézè.
Nanci Amaka (b. 1982) was born in Nigeria and spent her formative years in a rural rainforest village in south eastern Nigeria. Emigrating to the United States in 1993, she received a BA in Visual Critical Studies from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA from California College of the Arts. The artist now lives and works in Hawaii.