Adeye Jean Baptiste
Lamp #1I am interested in why people migrate. Within my work I present a perspective of those who are non-native to the environment that they have traveled to or through. I draw from both personal as well as generational
experience when building out my narratives. Aesthetically I am influenced by the cultures I grew up in such as graffiti, skate, and city. I am also influenced by the 1980s, the era in which my parents immigrated to the US.
“The Alien” or “Star people” is a common motif within my work. The Alien
becomes a metaphor for otherness. I use them as a way to tackle the challenges of movement in a non-direct way. While at first glance they may seem like these happy go lucky creatures when time is taken to peel back their visual layers there is something more. The wear and tear of their bodies capture a lived turmoil or the handmade knitted socks show that they were once deeply loved. It is these details that I use to really flesh out the deeper, more serious narrative. Lamp #1 is based on the pac-man ghost and traditional caribbean masks.