“Our histories are often erased, misrepresented, and distorted outside from our truths as a people. I feel safest and most held by Black women, therefore my work is structured to uplift those stories.”
It all started when…
SOULDEGA: Who are you? Where are you from? And who or what inspired you to begin your artistry?
JAZMINE: My name is Jazmine Hayes. I am an interdisciplinary artist, muralist & musician, born and based in Brooklyn, NY. I began my journey with artistry as a child singing and creating music in church and drawing cartoons and graffiti.
SOULDEGA: Your themes of spirituality and sisterhood resonates with us on such a deep level. What moves you to share stories and histories of Women of the African diaspora?
JAZMINE: Our histories are often erased, misrepresented, and distorted outside from our truths as a people. I feel safest and most held by Black women, therefore my work is structured to uplift those stories. I have a strong understanding that there is healing that needs to continue collectively and generationally and I believe that starts with self work. The idea of a sister-ship or sisterhood is equivalent to a safe space, a space where I can be soft, a space that allows other Black women to be soft. That, can flow through forms of hair braiding, story telling, dancing, drumming and so on.
SOULDEGA: Can you share your process on how you developed your amazing sketch series “Bloodline”?
JAZMINE: I began the Bloodline series many moons ago as a way to express and explore connections of histories between my experiences as a Black American woman and ancestral and cultural traditions of the African Diaspora. I believe Black Americans have been stripped the furthest away from African heritage and that intrigued me to explore the remnants of our existence. African hair braiding is one of the oldest traditions that connect Black Americans directly to African culture. I was also thinking of the overlapping conversation of portraiture through a historical lens in relation to class and race. To have your portrait painted or taken meant a certain level of wealth. Often, this wasn’t an opportunity accessible to enslaved people. I removed faces so the braids stood as an identifier through pattern and texture. All drawings are pen on paper, and created with time and patience. Black Hair is so political and often only seen for its beauty but it’s deeper. Laws are still being passed for locs, braids, & Afros to be worn in a work space. These various hair styles were modes of survival. Our mothers braided our hair for the week, so they could have time to work and provide. There’s so many layers to hair braiding.
SOULDEGA: You are an interdisciplinary artist who delves in installation, performance, sketching, paintings on paper, sounds and writing. What led you to combine these different mediums for your “To the Peaches” exhibit?
JAZMINE: Installation allows me to navigate through various art forms, whether it be writing, drawing, hair braiding as textile, video, or sound. My research is based from craftwork, traditions, social codes and the remnants of our culture. I feel that only creating in one medium limits my conversation to the history, especially as someone who is not only a visual artist but a drummer and poet as well. I think of the experience I want the viewer to have and activate through performance. Performance allows for the safe space of community and the opportunity to invite other Black women creatives to join in. To the Peaches is dedicated to the hood Black girl, women like my mom and sister, my friends, the women I grew up watching on tv, the women who are ghettoized and demonized for their existence. The installation derives from Nina Simone’s, Four Women, and holds emphasis on the fourth woman described, “Peaches”.
SOULDEGA: How did you find the pandemic and lockdown to affect your creativity?
JAZMINE: Before the pandemic, I was already experiencing a lockdown of my creativity. I didn’t have a space to work on specific projects and emotionally was going through a down period after finishing my MFA. I wasn’t creating as much visual art but I’ve held on to my softness and creativity through writing, meditating, dancing, & cooking. (Started a plant-based food journal, @jazz_up_your_food). The last few weeks I’ve been getting back into mural work, unfortunately most youth programs are cancelled due to the pandemic.
SOULDEGA: Moving forward, how do you plan to use your artistry to continue to uplift and contribute to the Black community during this growing revolution and uprising?
JAZMINE: - Existing. - Working with Black women. - Taking the steps to learn spiritually. The tasks at hand are much bigger than creating work responsive to whiteness. I just want to exist with my people, to heal, and experience joy. Our existence is resistance and I want to strive and thrive in that.