Baker Artist Portfolios

My creative practice focuses on a meticulous exploration of relationships. Through the deconstruction of materials, I strategically and yet sometimes haphazardly build and reassign connections, assembling media to convey the complexities that color unions. I seek to reveal both the metaphorical and literal processes of breaking, hiding, and layering to yield insight into what creates and maintains linkages.
The work presents multifaceted layers of said connections with precision. For me, knowing what’s behind -mistakes, secrets, fears, unspoken loves- speaks to facades presented and misinterpretation. My work invites one to consider the complicated pieces that scaffold the human reflection.
In formation, there are many shifts and observed instabilities. While what emerges is visually noisy, and rarely balanced, there’s an appreciation for collaboration where, even in fractured situations, there’s wholeness. Each is held closely by a golden cord, otherworldly and secure.
BIO:
Dr. Yemonja Smalls is a multidisciplinary artist who has spent over twenty years professionally seeking to understand people, what motivates and challenges them and assisting in building supports to help them live their best lives. Her extensive work with people with developmental disabilities has informed her fascination with the complexities of relationships, which is a common theme reflected in many of her layered mixed-media creations.
Yemonja’s creates in various mediums from paint, wood, glass and anything else she can hold and mold. Her works have been exhibited in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, the Frederick Douglass Issac-Meyers Maritime Museum, Hill Center Galleries, Harold Washington Library, South Side Community Art Center, Howard University, the Sojourner Family Peace Center among others, and reside in various private collections across the nation.