The Flag Series: Fingers Tracing Places of Aspiration (NEW ART AT ELEGBA FOLKLORE SOCIETY)

New Art Opening at Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center

Sukenya Best’s monotypes will be on view in an exhibition called The Flag Series: Fingers Tracing Places of Aspiration.  The show will open on Friday, August 5, 5:00p – 9:00p, at Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center during the First Fridays Artwalk.  The Cultural Center is located in the RVA Arts District, 101 East Broad Street, downtown at 1st and Broad.  Music will also be featured and refreshments will be served.

The art exudes color and movement via printmaking where the ink is rolled onto a flat surface, manipulating the surface, laying paper on it, and then hand pulling the whole thing through a press, according to the artist.  Ms. Best says, “Dragging my fingers and stamping my palms in ink created the various textures within each print. Much of the geometric compositions within the pieces were inspired by international flag designs.  The process began to push past the flag, so the very last print became a personal design that is symbolic of time.”  In the printmaking process, Ms. Best enhances original flags in essence and symbolism with rhythm and texture.

Ms. Best has exhibited at Museum of Science & Industry (Chicago), Pen & Brush Inc. (New York), Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (Pennsylvania), Kansas City Art Institute (Missouri), Corcoran School of Arts (Washington DC) and the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen (Virginia), among other locations.  Her art is found in collections in both New DeIhi and Gujarat in India.  She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  She has studied abroad in Zimbabwe and London.

Elegba Folklore Society is a year-round, lively celebration of African and African American culture.  In addition to engagement in the visual arts and material culture, programming includes dance theatre and music, cultural history tours and cultural arts festivals.  Elegba is an Orisa, or intercessor, who opens the roads to bring clarity our of confusion.

The Flag Series: Fingers Tracing Places of Aspiration runs through September 30.