Ode to Drexciya
Black Joy Futures is a backwards journey of remembering.
The “Middle Passage”, the largest unmarked graveyard stretches across the Atlantic Ocean.
From Africa, through the Caribbean to the Americas.
No crossing was ever more perilous than the transatlantic crossing for enslaved Africans.
The ill ones, the troublemakers, a commodity that doesn’t pay are thrown overboard. The captain can collect insurance for the “lost at sea”.
But they did not know the slaves came with Spirits of their own. Whispering to the unborn thrown into the deep dark below. Born into the waters, made of water and spirit flesh, acquiescent to Mami Wata, La Sirene.
Welcome to Drexciya a place you never knew but has always known about you.
Roxann Yuen
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www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/history-of-slavery/middle-passage www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-middle-passage-4688744 Eshun et al. In the Black Fantastic. Thames and Hudson. 2022. Drexciya. “Aquarazorda”. Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller I (Full Album). www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBEKAtRskn8&t=146
Ode to Drexciya, oil stick, mica pigment powder, oil medium on Stonehenge oil paper. 144.78 cm x 76.23. 2023.
Yemaya, oil paint, oil stick, mica pigment on Stonehenge oil paper. 93.98 cm x 144.78 cm. 2023.
Yemaya, installation view. Gallery Crawl, AUArts. 2023.
Lusca, acrylic ink and medium on Stonehenge paper. 27.94 cm x 43.18 cm. 2023.
Drexciya: Temple 2 of Water, Air dry Clay, acrylic ink, gesso, medium, and embroidery thread. size varies. 2023.
To: Black Terrestrial Bodies, You Need This Shield, Portal, Net. From: Darthouven Fish Men of Drexciya. Paper Mache, honeycomb paper, acrylic and mica pigment on cotton canvas. 106 cm x 76.2 cm. 2023.
Installation View. AUArts. 2023.
Water Temple Guardians, 91.44 cm x 63.5 cm. FINA Exhibition, AUArts. 2023.