Nickola Pottinger’s
Care Package
The first few months of quarantine, I was often making something with my hands everyday whether it was painting or cooking. It was harmonious to have multitude modes of making coexist in my home, as I was building upon the concept of sanctuary and ritual at home. It was healing.
I gravitated to making these flat sculptures (as I referred to them at the time), and they took on a new meaning for me conjuring the idea of “relief”. As reliefs they were symbols or totems for this time we were all living through- a pandemic, immense division, political and social unrest. The reliefs became conveyed emotions and sculptural techniques.
As a part of her package, Pottinger is raising awareness for The Laundromat Project. Growing up in Bedford Stuyvesant with a loving and supportive family, I was able to pursue the arts from elementary to college. Immigrating here from Jamaica West Indies as a toddler, I am so grateful to my parents who fostered the arts in our home. So I was ecstatic to see The Laundromat Project launch its space 2 blocks from where I grew up- and so I profoundly advocate for this organization. The Laundromat Project is an arts organization that advances artists and neighbors as change agents in their communities. The idea of a laundromat as a primary place for engagement has expanded over time. It serves as a metaphor for a variety of settings in which artists and neighbors transform their lives and surroundings. This includes community gardens, public plaza, local cultural organizations, and more.
More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth
I was reading a couple of autobiographies this year, including Glennon Doyle’s Untamed but Elaine’s More Than Enough resonated with me most of all as I was claiming space for my art practice and exploring my other passions this year. “There is a divine order, a divine flow to our lives. We don’t need to have all the answers. But our job is to keep on dreaming and trusting enough to put one foot in front of the other.”
Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown
I was fortunate to temporarily participate in a Black Arts Coalition amongst other artist, curators and directors, working on a subcommittee for Institutional Reform. Inspired by Octavia Butler’s explorations of our human relationship to change, Emergent Strategy, is a radical self-help, society help, and planet help designed to shape the futures we want to live.
Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto by Legacy Russell
Legacy’s book could not have arrived at a better time, and her virtual book launch Cosmic Bodies: A CyberFam Celebration with MOMA PS1, transcended the barriers of zoom because I came out of there drenched in true fam vibes. It was community. When the world has not been as accessible as it is now- yet the accessibility is a glitch. Through the heartbreaking times, it has been hard to heal on a daily basis.
Glitch refuses
Glitch is Cosmic
Glitch throws shade
Glitch ghosts
Glitch is error
Glitch mobilizes
Glitch is remix
Glitch survives
Girl Trek
In the early summer one of my girlfriends put me on to Girltrek, and though it began as a 21 day walking meditation it has essentially been a podcast series rolled up into a care package. The founders, Vanessa and Morgan have curated emails with inspiring words, survival tips, speeches and dedicated songs about legendary Black Women in history. Girl trek is the largest public health non profit for African American women and girls in the United States, that encourages women to use walking as a practical first step to inspire healthy living, families and communities. I haved shared with family and my girlfriends in hopes that it touches and uplifts them.
“rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion”
- Bell Hooks
D-Nice Playlist by Kimonti Wilson
This playlist is E V E R Y T H I NG – I grew up with and the dance parties it has created. Anyone who knows me well, knows I love Music & Dancing
Solange: When I get Home
“create your own communities, build your own institutions, give your friends awards, and be the gold you wanna hold my g’s” - Solange🌹
Sugar Minott
Lincoln Barrington “Sugar” Minott’s voice rings with so much nostalgia. This is one of the many reggae albums in rotation this year, especially comforting to serenade to until I can travel back home. Back to nativity, to be with loved ones, until then.
