Welcome to Negative Space

Darkness is generative.

For many, the fear of our maturation is the darkness we are forced to confront. Within unfamiliar space, we cling to perimeters, feel our way for objects and composition, and measure our steps as an attempt to map the unknown in a dark interior. We take the darkness, the presumed void, for granted. We are our most human as we engage our every sense, as our pupils dilate and our imaginations run in fear or desire, as we construct worlds, and dance in space. Travel through the dark prompts a search for light. It fuels our individual journeys, whether a vector or a spiral.

I believe this analogy applies to the value of Black culture and invention. Blackness has been made and seen as a threat, despite the culture supporting the framework and livelihood of the living, the most fortunate, and those who tend to reveal themselves as its very oppressors. By design, our contributions shape the natural and manmade world. By design, we evolve, expand, contract, and regenerate — an innate art form — while others settle for a derivative. We know this.

Drawing on its art and design definition, Negative Space is a platform to discuss historical and contemporary Black Diasporic art and design contributions in recognition that Blackness takes up space, and rightfully so. It functions as criticism and theory to catalyze new worlds, to realize new possibilities, or return to what is real.

As someone navigating the dark, shadowed, and seemingly isolating corridors of the art and design worlds, I have made it a practice to cultivate my own sense of worth, especially in the absence of mirrors that reflect my likeness, or when the light and its refractions, rather than illuminating the path, blind me to it.

Welcome to Negative Space.

For me, for you.