Artist’s Statement

“Dreams and memory were a crucial element of growing up Gullah particularly memory of Mende language passed on through Gullah people of the Carolinas and memories of symbolism within dreams. It was important to understand how dream worlds impact the waking world. I was 9 years old when Aunt Aida passed away; Aunt Aida was actually my cousin and lived up the street from my grandmother. She collected dolls and I would go and sit with her every day. When I went into her home after she passed I sensed energy so strong that I felt as if I were suffocating in her stories, and existence. I think of that heavy energy in her space as the layers of her experience in that house. Those layers drive my work.”

Charmaine Bee a, Bachelor of Fine Arts, graduate of The School of the
Art Institute of Chicago, is an interdisciplinary visual artist. Through conceptual and documentary photography, film, video, and textile art Charmaine explores the rich layers of African Diasporic spirituality and personal histories. Charmaine’s work places an emphasis on memory and ritual, she explores this through examining her personal family narrative within Gullah culture.

Charmaine has been awarded the Brooklyn Arts Council Community Arts Foundation grant for two consecutive years for The Stoop Gallery, a pop up gallery project which installs fine art exhibitions onto stoops throughout Brooklyn during the summer months. She is also a recipient of the Puffin Foundation Grant for her Gentrification mapping project. In addition, Charmaine has worked as a teaching artist, sharing photographic and video workshops with young people. She currently resides in New York. 

Artist’s Links

website: www.charmainebee.com     

gallery links: