JOY JAMES — CAPTIVE MATERNAL

The title of this work comes from Dr. Joy James' concept of the "captive maternal," a figure defined less by identity than by the labor of sustaining life under conditions of captivity. For James, parenting is not simply a familial role but a political practice of protection, sacrifice, and resistance. This framework allows me to consider how generations of Black women have carried communities forward while navigating systems that continually limit their autonomy.

Assata Shakur 1971 mugshot

ASSATA SHAKUR — PASSING & FUGITIVITY

Assata Shakur's passing prompted me to think about freedom beyond the terms of the state. Her life in exile and her enduring fugitivity reveal how liberation can exist outside official recognition, while her death recalls a longer diasporic tradition in which death itself is sometimes imagined as release from captivity. In the work, Assata becomes a point of reflection on freedom as both a lived practice and an unfinished pursuit.

MY MOTHER'S DESIRE FOR FREEDOM

The work began with a simple thought: my mother wants to be free. Free from responsibility, from performance, and from having to make decisions that prioritize everyone but herself. Her desire became a way for me to think about the expectations placed on Black women and what freedom might look like beyond service, sacrifice, and care.

maternal grandmother, Maxine, pregnant with my mom

MARIE SIMIEN

The engraving in the work reproduces the 1791 manumission of my sixth great-grandmother, Marie Magdalena Simien, and her son Louis. Her appearance in the archive reveals the contradictions of freedom in colonial Louisiana, where safety, autonomy, and family were often negotiated through systems designed to deny them. I am interested in how Black women like Marie transformed limited possibilities into strategies for securing futures for themselves and their children.

Etha Simien Amling portraying her ancestors, Marie Magdalena Lemelle Simien, at St. Landry Parish Women Hall of Fame event