how'd i get here

This thesis is about making meaning and the ways it shifts throughout one's lifetime while examining the Transatlantic Slave Trade, its aftermath and how it has directly affected my lived experiences. Both fiction and non-fiction accounts of the aftermath of the Transatlantic Slave Trade have influenced this body of work. It moves from a personal archive of my life with a collection of quilt patches, revisited, and shifts to using textiles that respond to my exploration of historical facts. Written accounts of experiences from enslaved people directly influence two significant works (traces and both sides of the door). This thesis explores finding myself, how I have come to see the world presently and what it means to me to be living in the Black Diaspora. how'd i get here, a site-specific (or site-sensitive) installation that resides in Creston, BC is a way for me to connect with others. For as long as I want. My work will continue to explore the narratives of those who have come before me and are forgotten, erased, ignored and unarchived. I want to remember their lives and bring meaning to those lives. It is important to do this so that our understandings of ourselves can shift.