Andrew I. Wilson
Portfolio
SHOP takes a look at the Barber Shop, which is regarded as a safe place for black masculinity. It is a sanctuary where black men can fellowship and create support systems that live outside our ideas of the black male body and stigma it is charged with. SHOP seeks to inject ideas of sexuality in this place of sanctuary and create the space for dialogue of such taboo subjects in places that are deemed as "safe". SHOP is trying to hack away at the many layers of identities alive in the black male body. This project allows the viewer a glimpse of a world they would otherwise not be privy to.
A Slave Narrative ... To Be Continued seeks to explore the slave trade in early American History. The interior pages include photolithography of etchings of enslaved Africans and the layout of enslaved Africans on ships as they were transported to the Americas. Additionally, the work includes poetry from Joshua Merchant and myself to add depth and an autobiographical undertone to the work.
The work is made of five ceramic slabs bound in an abstracted Coptic binding with hemp cord.