Today we’d like to introduce you to T Eliott Mansa.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a visual artist, born and raised in Miami. I create multi-media assemblage memorials to honor Black victims of state and extrajudicial violence.
I am a proud alumnus of MDCPS magnet programs, as well as a former student at Yale School of Art and CUNY-Hunter.College.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Life for me definitely hasn’t been a smooth road or a “crystal stair”, but I have definitely been blessed and fortunate. I lost both of my parents to cancer as a very young adult. Most of my adult life has been under the shadow of grief, and that has informed the work that I make. For a decade, over the past decade, I have been engaged in a studio practice meant to memorialize those that we have lost. As my father became sick, I began a series of portraits of him. After the murder of Trayvon Martin, my work evolved in a practice meant to honor the members of my community that are victims of state and vigilante violence.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I think of myself as a visual communicator that creates art across various forms and media. Previously my studio practice was informed and shaped by the figurative drawing skills I developed at New World School of the Arts, That lead me down a path that moved from painting to collage and then into sculpture and assemblage. My current body of work is a synthesis of all of those practices. I am known for creating monochromatic 3-D assemblage work that references both grassroots roadside memorials as well as apotropaic sculptural assemblage sculptures from Benin and the Congo. I am proud to have been awarded a series of travel grants that allowed me to explore these sculptural forms, across the African Diaspora, in cities such as Contonu, Ouidah, and Havana.
I am proud and fortunate to have worked with LnS Gallery, as well as Oolite Arts as a studio resident and 2019 Ellie Creator Award recipient.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can support me by reaching out to LnS Gallery in Coconut Grove, FL. They can also follow me on Instagram @teliottmansa.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@lnsgallery.com
- Website: www.teliottmansa.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teliottmansa/
Image Credits
Personal photo by Noelle Barnes. First three additional photos by Zachary Farber. Fourth image by myself. The fifth and sixth photos are also by Zachary Balber The seventh and eighth photos are by Phillip Karp
