Artist Statement

Shawn Theodore’s work is an intersection of visual and written narratives, illusory perspectives, and culturally significant photographic imagery and objects to speak to the importance and equivalence of historical and quotidian moments of African American culture. His stated goal is to explore race, spirituality, patriarchy, matriarchy, and class structure within disappearing Black communities.

The multiformity of his practice positions him as a creator of an imagined archive of spiritual manifestations through explorations of often-overlooked cultural and historical narratives. His art frequently references African-American ethnography, cultural aphorisms, African spirituality, Haitian Vodou, and depictions of contemporary Blackness in American media. In 2016, the artist began using the term ‘Afromythology ®’ to describe the trajectory of his conceptual photography practice.

Working within various expressions of the photographic arts, he engages the present to contribute narratives that draw from historical circumstances, along with current and continuous socioeconomic, psychological, and spiritual that impact African Americans such as the variety of forced and naturally migratory behaviors and gentrification. More specifically, Theodore’s work engages in how these systems contribute to the notions of identity and agency of the African American.