“This body of work reflects on the complex and powerful journey of Black people in relation to water—specifically swimming spaces—from exclusion to reclamation, from trauma to joy. Historically, access to swimming pools and recreational water spaces in the U.S. and beyond was denied to Black communities through segregation laws, intimidation, and underinvestment. Pools became battlegrounds in the civil rights movement, most infamously marked by moments like the 1964 motel pool acid incident in St. Augustine, Florida.
But the story didn’t end there.
These works celebrate what it means to carve out space—to float, swim, leap, and lounge—on our own terms. Each image becomes an act of resistance and joy: Black bodies fully immersed, not just in water, but in freedom. Whether it’s a group of boys mid-air over a pool, women in vintage swimwear commanding the dive board, or men speaking gently in a secluded river, these scenes are declarations of belonging and of beauty.
Water has always held duality for us: it carried the ancestors across oceans in chains, and yet, it now carries us weightlessly in moments of rest and release. These paintings seek to reframe the narrative—not to ignore the pain, but to honour the triumph. To show that we are no longer just surviving near water—we are thriving in it”
