{"id":80679,"date":"2020-10-11T14:23:13","date_gmt":"2020-10-11T13:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nijimagazine.com\/?p=80679"},"modified":"2020-10-13T17:12:36","modified_gmt":"2020-10-13T16:12:36","slug":"celebrating-and-reclaiming-the-african-caribbean-identity-meet-photographer-christina-leslie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nijimagazine.com\/2020\/10\/celebrating-and-reclaiming-the-african-caribbean-identity-meet-photographer-christina-leslie\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating and Reclaiming the African\/Caribbean Identity: Meet Photographer Christina Leslie"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Al Gord<\/a><\/p>\n

Christina Leslie is an artist from Toronto, Canada. She is a graduate of the Ontario College of Arts and Design University. Currently she is pursuing her Masters of Fine Arts degree, with a major in the photographic arts, at the Savannah College of Art and Design out of the United States.<\/p>\n

Her photographic practice is driven by her desire to include representation of marginalized people in the visual art sectors. The most common themes that are central to her work includes Christina\u2019s bi-racial identity, immigration, issues of marginalization, memory, race, story-telling and her Jamaican heritage. She will often incorporate text and photo-collage into her work as well as use historical photographic applications to create her pieces.<\/p>\n

Christina\u2019s inspirations are as incredibly diverse as the themes in her work. She is moved by prominent visual artists such Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, Kara Walker, Ebony Patterson and fellow Canadian artist Sandra Brewster. Other influences include conceptual American artist Hank Willis Thomas and more recently film makers Barry Jenkins and upcoming director Joe Talbot. The works of these other creatives have motivated Christina to create photo-based works that are meaningful visually, especially when creating bodies of work that speak about the African\/Caribbean-diaspora.<\/p>\n

She is also influenced by the art of storytelling and the passing on of generational traditions. Christina\u2019s interest in examining the past is best represented in her recent exhibition \u201cAbsence\/Presence: Morant Bay\u201d, which examined the small town in Jamaica where her father grew up before he immigrated to Canada. This artistic journey captures visits with her father\u2019s family and childhood friends, as well as significant landmarks allowing Christina to share her father\u2019s life and recapture his most important childhood memories.<\/p>\n

Christina\u2019s current focus is her \u201cRootz\/Routes\u201d series, some of which is represented in this feature. In Christina\u2019s words, the intent behind this work is as follows: \u201cThe Black body has been the subject of photographic documentation for much of art history. Our bodies have been used for anthropological studies to try to prove \u201cracial\u201d superiority and for capitalism and profit. Our early stories were always from the landscape of the transatlantic slave trade and many of our own narratives have been abolished or destroyed to keep our identities shrouded in the lens of racism. This body of work aims to counteract those previous and false depictions. It hopes to celebrate our initial African origins. It aims to celebrate our dark melanin skin and all its various shades, reclaim identity, untold histories, our connection to earth and our spirituality.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Recognition for Christina\u2019s other work includes three of her prints from \u201cAbsence\/Presence\u201d being transformed onto billboards as part of Vancouver, Canada\u2019s Capture Festival. As well, she recently had a solo exhibit as part of the prestigious Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival.<\/p>\n

Christina\u2019s powerful and important works can be viewed on Instagram<\/a> as well as the following websites: ffoto.com<\/a> and rawartists.com\/clphoto<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n