“In terms of where we are today - the pandemic, and so much uncertainty in the world, we have been called to be more fluid in the way we do things - in the way we approach conversations and in the way we deliver our work. We’re being called to be more fluid and more flexible and be able to adapt.”
As this year has affected all of us differently, our artistry mirrors that energy. Marryam Moma has been able to consistently create, but the way in which she likes her work to be absorbed has had to adapt for the times. “I didn’t know what it would look like for us artists,” says Marryam as she discussed the early parts of the pandemic’s effect. However. as virtual galleries grow in popularity, they don’t hold the same personal touch that Marryam enjoys in displaying her art. Nonetheless, she is grateful for her ability to maintain momentum.
“Seeing my work virtually versus standing in front of it is a completely different thing. The experience is totally different,” says Marryam as she explains that the intrinsic elements in her work do not translate the way she’d hope. The aesthetics have been affected in this transition which challenged her to let go and be fluid in her approach to presenting.
“I think in terms of delivery, I try to be more clear because of how people are viewing it,” says Marryam as she continues to think of innovative ways to fill those gaps in connection.
As much as I hoped to find words to better state Marryam’s mission, there is no better way to tell her story than to allow her to you for herself. When asked what she hopes that people will receive from her work she stated the following:
“I really want to start dialoguing the conversations that challenge the status quo and that challenge ideas and perceptions that the viewer already carries around specifically and especially around the black female body. I want her to be marveled at. I want her to be looked at in awe - in beauty. I want to create spaces within my work where the perception in the mind changes. She’s allowed to be strong and vulnerable. She’s allowed to be seductive and not be called a whore or less than because of those things. The range of feelings that are allowed in our counterparts of different races that is not necessarily allowed in black women. In my work, I’m really looking for that space, where I create this chasm where the viewer is forced to have a dialogue that allows for more conversation around uplifting the black woman.”
