Schetauna Powell – SAIC Graduate Exhibition 2024

SAIC SHOWS 2024 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Graduates

SAIC SHOWS 2024 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Schetauna Powell

Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects

Graduate Exhibition Two

spowell@artivismcommunityart.com

artivismcommunityart.com

Born 1989 in Houston, TX, Schetauna Powell began her academic career in English Literature & Black Studies, earning a BA & an MA in each subject respectively. Powell’s formal introduction into the professional art field began at the Museum of Fine Art Houston as lead teaching artist over Glassel on the Go, 2016 to 2018. After her tenure at the MFAH, Powell organized conferences & curated art shows for the Black Speculative Art Movement at the Houston Museum of African American Culture from 2018 to 2020. Powell’s curatorial career focuses on facilitation of African American cultural experiences. Her most recent curatorial work, “Rooted in Abolition” was at the DeLuxe Theater in 2023.

As a designer Powell’s work is known for translating geometric pattern design to explore the symbolic, logical-mathematical aspects of African American literature & language. Her work is collected by the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection & the private collection of Adelheid Mers.

https://fnewsmagazine.com/2023/10/so-do-you-wanna-collaborate/

https://fnewsmagazine.com/2024/03/placemaking-at-saic/

https://open.spotify.com/show/34fFEzGNopyo4MzPShFG0k?si=0eeeeb0b9b794d83

A weekly meditation podcast that accompanies your creative practice. Utilizing the past and present knowledge of the African Diaspora, we discuss best practices for building a creative life so that we may design our future. Sponsored by Artivism Community Art & Hosted by Schetauna Powell on All Real Radio.

Schetauna Powell - Octagonal Blocks from Quilt Blox Series

Octagonal Blocks from Quilt Blox Series, 2022, Wood and casein paint

The objects we create are a manifestation of our relationships with each other, indicative of how we order our world, and explore our relationship to all living things in the universe. New Black cultural objects are created when we explore the relationships that comprise our communities of resistance. We create new objects so that we may invite others to build relationships with us through play and possibility. Featured in the 23/24 Graduate Student Lookbook.

Schetauna Powell - Cosmic Egg Cup Toy and Birds Flying Soft Blocks

Cosmic Egg Cup Toy and Birds Flying Soft Blocks, 2023, Found objects, resin, neoprene, cloth, foam

The Flying Bird Soft Blocks: Based on the pattern in "Birds in Flight" quilt by Mertlene Perkins. The soft blocks make explicit the symbol of the bird in flight instead of leaving the birds as abstract shapes. The Cosmic Egg Cup Toy: inspired by the song Deja Vu by Weldon Irvine. The cup contains the elements of the known universe. Featured in the exhibition “We Are Our Own Medicine, We Are Our Own Healers” at the SAIC Wellness Center 2024.

Schetauna Powell - The Knot Puzzle

The Knot Puzzle, 2024, Walnut, Cherry, Poplar, Maple, 12" x 12" x 3" in.

The Knot Puzzle consists of four sets of four octagons that when stacked together create diamond shaped "knots" that create a pattern out of negative space. This particular piece draws on the tendency in African American culture to employ rocks, knots, and other small objects to activate memory. In the design of the piece the diamond shaped knots are recessed into the box that houses the octagonal blocks. The space that is left allows the user to display small trinkets that otherwise might get lost. The pattern is based on the “Love Knot Quilt” made in 1982 by Pecolia Warner. This piece was featured in the SITE gallery show “The Black Domestic” curated by COBRA, Fall 2023 and The 25th International Open at Woman Made Gallery Spring 2024.

Schetauna Powell - Tulipiere Picture Frame

Tulipiere Picture Frame, 14” x 24” x .50" in.

This pattern design for this modular picture frame combines two floral patterns from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution circa 1840 - 1850: Tulip pattern and The Three Rose Pattern. The Tulip Pattern is accredited to an anonymous maker from enslavement. The Three Rose Pattern is seen in an Album Quilt by Josie Covington, 1895. Often floral quilts during this era were commissioned to be hung in homes. Functionally this frame is meant to help bring order to a wall of pictures featuring family and friends. Exhibited at The Greystone Collective 2024.

Schetauna Powell - North Star Puzzle and The Underground Puzzle

North Star Puzzle and The Underground Puzzle, 2023, Cherry, Walnut, Poplar, and Pine 10" x 10" x 3" in. (each)

The North Star Puzzle: Earliest mention of this pattern is the Star of Bethlehem pattern variation quilt circa 1837 by Aunt Ellen and Aunt Margaret who were both enslaved African American women in Kentucky. The Underground Puzzle: The pattern featured in the Underground Puzzle is commonly known as the Jacob's Ladder pattern. The connecting triangles create a path from one corner to the next indirectly, illustrating a path to escape. This piece is based on the quilt made by the Elizabeth Baptist Church Senior Citizens Quilting Group titled “Underground Railroad (Under the Stars)” made in 1994. Exhibited at Parlour & Ramp 2024.

Though I design objects, I am a writer and researcher first. The objects I create play with information I find in academic texts and use materials found in childhood to communicate complex information. Using the simplest design solutions possible, I design objects to help an audience materially connect with academic subject matter. I am inspired by the opportunity to rethink how to communicate ideas using the symbolic, logical-mathematical aspects of African American literature and language in my designs. Themes central to my work include concepts of play and translation. What I aim to create are interactive material objects that communicate using African American ways of organizing, seeing, and understanding.