IDEAL BEAUTY

An aesthetic journey into the fantastic world of splendor

Medium used; photography, film and digital
with various mixed media applications

Developing a comprehensive aesthetic that identifies the abstract variances of beauty, Identity and the concept of difference.

This study applies an aesthetical representation of the quintessence of beauty suggesting the outlines of Nubian Queens, Royalty, Empresses, Madams, Warriors and freedom fighters. Each of the artworks on display beckons us to take a look, upon which the contours of a new reality begin to emerge. A deeper insight into the juxtaposition of the roots of splendor and modern attraction through a non-linear temporal aesthetic thread that challenges the rigidity of periods and genres.

According to traditional Western thought from the antiquity through the Middle Ages, beauty is a constitutive element of the cosmos associated with order, harmony, and mathematics. Classical Philosophy treated and conceived beauty alongside truth, goodness, love, being, and the divine. In this concept, beauty is a supreme value, basic to the whole cosmos.

Far Eastern thought has three major traditions: Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. These traditions are intertwined, forming a general background within which their experiences and concepts of beauty were formed.

Unlike in Western philosophy, the East did not develop an abstract theory of beauty. Beauty was understood as a part of nature. Nature is the totality of the cosmos, which encompasses human Identity as well. Beauty was understood as a natural expression of the cosmos and the norm of human behavior. “Ideal”

Comprehending these elaborate historical concepts, equating ideal beauty, identity and the many forms of difference, ignites my creative need to explore and develop an aesthetical representation of the Ideal Beauty reflecting human identities. Capturing these possessions thus manifested, usually, conveys some level of coherence amongst components within an ideal composition.

My plan is to capture the essence of people utilizing various visual documenting devices. Over time, developing compositions through sensory manifestations such as shape, color, interpretation and personality, I plan to develop a large body of work for public exhibition.

Madame War Tinubu of Nigeria

Life is in stages. We are an audience of actors applauding or own reflections.

One must die many times on many stages before she lives to see the script.

Amina Nohir of Zazzua

Wait, I heard that the current and ocean flow is dictated by the moon? The most ancient calendars, Hebrew, Chinese, and even Mayan, are all dictated by the moon.

Way after my time, of course, but y’all are still living by a calendar dictated by some church philosophy, which divorces y’all from feeling any synchronicity with nature or the moment, because y’all are consumed by machine and minute, the cross and clock.

I heard, even slavery was the taking of those who lived on one of those so called “primitive” calendars and putting them on the clock, on the grid, in the box.

So, my question to y’all is why?

Yaa Asantewa of the Ashanti Empire

“Unapologetically Astrological”

LABALABA N’ OSHUN

Well, I got one message from Oshun some time ago. She said....... Speak only truth. Speak only wisdom, Speak only love.

Be only truth, Be only wisdom, Be only love

Then Labalaba dropped in my dreams with a star in her hand.
Change your thinking and you change your life, Shine bright creations!

Queen Makeda Bilkis

Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable must be the truth.

Because to the rest of us it might just be false and the foretold outcome is defeat.

For what we think, we become.

MBUYA Nehanda

And when water was the enemy, after the tears became the sea, and then your eyes were opened by a wisdom carved from trees. Add a touch of what we came for, and a pinch of what is, and the sun blossoms a single flower, and the sadness walks on water ‘til it takes another name.

What am I?

Aminatu

I pulled back to see the white cross on the ship. I watched in slow motion as the dead bodies wrangled from the living and piled on deck. I reenter the vista of the woman as she observes. I pull back on her face, with shock and fear in her eyes she looks up at the moon and say’s her name three times before she dies, Amiantu, Aminatu….Amina..tu..

It is my name.

Queen Cleopatra of Kemet

“I am Cleopatra the one that rides the wind toward the sun, so they say.

Cleopatra the one who manifested a kingdom out of the heart of my lover, the all knowledgeable one who ruled over Kemet for centuries, so they say.

Cleopatra, the beautiful charlatan with the persuasive power over all men who gaze upon me.

Yet, I am but a woman, the mightiest one of them all, so I say!”

Queen Hatshepsut

I speak the hymns and
prayers to the soul that liveth again,
the being who becometh a child again,
the firstborn of unformed matter,
the magnificent of multitudes of aspects and
forms, the lord of life for all eternity.

“FOR DEATH IS NOT BUT THE THRESHOLD OF LIFE.

WE LIVE TODAY, WE WILL LIVE AGAIN. IN MANY WAYS WE WILL RETURN"

Shura & Dora of the Milaje guard

“Be all forever astute young warriors, the battle is eternal and fought in the shadows, your prudence will win over all, not your anger.

Remember, you will not be punished for your wrath; you will be punished by your wrath. Always seek peace young warriors”

Madam Raary Esi Essuon

I am Perfect, Lovely, Attractive, Inciting, Iconic, Exquisite, Valued, Ultimate, Splended, Theoretical, Fire, Complex, Exemplar, Presumptive, Rousing, Attractive, Idyllic, Magnificence, Essential, Above Standard, Good Looking, Supreme, Beneficial, Better, stereotypically charming, Adverse, Plus, Morally Worthy, Gorgeous, Sexual, Warm, Stimulating and Energizing.”

Yes, I am all this and more…

Jevalia Ye Spectacular

“My name is Jevalia, and for a small period of time I lived in this world. I had passions and thoughts and love for the many small details that comprise my life. Only during brief moments of clarity and small instances of awareness, I’d find the veil of morality pulled back and would be struck by sudden recognition that it is all significant. there's no way to capture it to slow it down or to prolong my small time. Very soon every trace of me of all those little things would be gone. Know, my battle has ended my spirit is lifted and I am now part of this glorious atmosphere.”

Ayodele

“In the blink of an eye everything can change.

LOVE WITH ALL YOUR HEART.

You may never know when you may not have that chance again.”

Vodun de Erzulie Dantor

I'm the empress of being
I'm the purveyor of death
I have been since the dawn of time
Not always me, but always the same

Bewitched from my birth
Reborn again and again
With me, eternity ends

Kaipkire of the Herero people

“How to tame an ego when it wilds to compare, penetrate the heart with the grace of a feather and dance in delight while it loves you.”

NZINGHA the All Goddess

I'm the ruler of Origin
I'm the bringer of Life
I have been since the dawn of time
Not always me, but always the same
Blessed from my creation
Reborn again and again
With me, eternity begins

Goddess Oued Mertoutek of Mojarra

The day that I changed it all, set in motion the freedom of the world. The In-between moments, the true signposts at the many places in time. I will return soon, after I rest my warm feet in this exotic divan. Don’t you believe that you are the seeds planted in the soul to grow spirits that inhabit the true world?.....Yeah….I think you knew that much already.

Ideal Beauty invites the viewer to investigate the manifold ways by which the female human form naturally produces renewed beauty in appearances and meanings. These fluid compositions radiate an almost afro-futuristic style in design, yet presents a regal attractiveness, representing a characteristic present in nature, art, and human form.

The titles are from historical references of truths, beliefs and legends.

The words come from conversations with and thoughts of the women throughout my life, they have inspired me well beyond my worthiness. I am truly honored and blessed to have experienced the love.

Thank you

Contributing Models:
Rashiadah Weaver
Terri Wade Lyles
Lisa V Arrington
Jillian M Lyles
Anu Kolawole
September Shy
Nikki Kenyatta Lewis
Gabrielle Lyles
Elizabeth Wheeler
Cali R Star
Tyeneesha Moore
Alexandrea Elizabeth Harris
Tiffany Gholar

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“Art isn't a mirror, but a window or lens for criticism, provoking sociocultural change within external and internal development.”

· About the Artist
· Exhibitions
· Projects

︎ ︎ ︎

IDEAL BEAUTY

“Art isn't a mirror, but a window or lens for criticism, provoking sociocultural change within external and internal development.”

· About the Artist · Exhibitions· Projects

︎ ︎ ︎

IDEAL BEAUTY

· About the Artist
· Exhibitions
· Projects