NYKELLE DEVIVO, THE CROSSROADS, 2013-2024
“Raised in a deeply religious household and honoring the language of Afro Spiritualism, my images reflect lifetimes of reverence for the divine. Throughout the diaspora (and from antiquity to our futures), we’ve relied on the ancient technology of refracted light as a tool for divination, which, with intentionality, can be used to embody (or catch) holy spirits. Reversing the limitations of freezing time in which the photographic flash was invented, I cast light as a form of expansion, an act of calling in. The light of my strobe intends to activate the spirit that lay dormant in the reflective surface of Black skin, in the water that gives us life, or in the manufactured sequin suits I don as a form of ritualistic dance.
The shine of Spirit is made brighter through the contrast of the void that saturates much of my work. In the West, the void is seen as a form of lack; in the African context, it’s the vessel for potentiality. Blackness proves its own futurity, and my images are a form of conversation between the ancestors who were and the ones who will be. My practice is a prayer. I photograph people I love as spirit must be held with care. I photograph myself as a means of understanding myself. I photograph objects/spaces of power to understand their nature in our becoming. I bring all to the crossroads for clarity. I bring all to the crossroads as an offering.
"Pray and we pray and we pray
And we pray and we pray
Every day, every day, every day, every day
And we pray and we pray
And we pray and we pray"
-Tha Crossroads by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony” - Nykelle DeVivo