UU of Month, November 2010

My name is Lehna Huie.

I am 22 years old and loving discovering life.

I grew up UU and Community Church is my home church in NYC. I became very involved in social justice work through my youth group and YRUU [Young Religious Unitarian Universalist]. I hold my UU values as core values of living- it has been the backbone of my spirituality, and struggles and joys of being an artist and activist.

As a recent graduate of the School of Visual Arts (BFA) and being an activist and UU Sunday School teacher, I have composed a language that is ever broadened by indulging myself physically and mentally in the community. My responsibility and commitment to the urgency of social change and awareness brings me to.

I am enlightened and motivated by the power of the collective voice- awareness and community through shared knowledge and heightened consciousness. My art is representative of my spiritual journey and quest for answers. As a Black woman committed to being an agent of change in this world- art is a positive tool for change.

I am committed to collectively bring young Black artists together to do projects. In recently founding the art collective Native Tongue, I recognized the urgency for growth for supporting young Black creators within NYC’s community. We are a group of 15 black artists and activists finding alternative strategies for sharing knowledge and creation beyond the group. The aim is to build a self-sustainable community of Black artists committed to resisting oppression, and documenting and delivering our voice where it matters most. We will do so in developing new ways of sharing information, creative insight, history and knowledge on an intergenerational and multidisciplinary level in community with one another.

I am also am aspiring to become a Yoga teacher. I wish to observe and practice fusion of the body, mind and spirit in healthy ways and sharing that with others.

Paintings:

The figures are mostly women, with a focus on the body.

How are our spirits represented in art? Are our bodies as Black women commodity? NO.

Our bodies are full of fire, lust for life, dance, soul and sweet music. We are full of joy, pain, sorrow and scar stories.

The food I eat, my family, teachers, icons and friends’ spirits find their way into the sp ace through bold colors-a life mostly influenced by women.

There we are…we are present.

You can feel our spirits while you thank us for having a large role in sustaining and cultivating this world.

Out of the paintings, these women are universal and representational of my mothers, ancestors, sisters, myself and any woman who is graces us with her presence day to day.

Be it raising a child or braving this harsh world just to survive and flourish.

Humility in tact- the true definition of a goddess.

With knowledge of the history of what has been done to our Black Bodies, many of us can only escape in dreams. I choose to paint the emotion I feel from my how these women affect me.

How wonderful it is to get up and find ways of facing the day with strength, power, faith, and grace.