9ja Vision: The Fiber and Mixed-Media Work of Joy O. Ude

This exhibition by Texas-based artist Joy O. Ude features modern and traditional sartorial pieces, mixed-media works on Dutch waxcloth, sculpture, and installation. Reflecting on the pressures of beauty imposed on black women by the culture influenced by Western colonization in Nigeria and the United States, Ude explores the American immigrant experience and the ways in which Nigerian traditions and visual adornment have transmuted across generations and identities.

[Image: Joy O. Ude, “Matriarch IV,” 2014. Dutch wax cloth, image transfer, burlap, Pellon stabilizer, embroidery floss. 15.5″x12″x1″. Photo courtesy of the artist.]