Curator Ashara Ekundayo's takes us on a tour of her show, 'Salt to Catch Ghosts'
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) -- A basin sits outside a gallery door in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood.
"You walk through the threshold, you come through the portal. There is water. There's an opportunity for you to be cleansed, to be washed."
Curator Ashara Ekundayo's show at the Splash Gallery offers a recipe for survival and liberation.
It's called, 'Salt to catch ghosts.'
A reclaimed Aunt Jemima figurine sits surrounded by seashells, sea glass and a myriad of objects, brushes and personal effects. It is an altar by artist Courtney Morris, called 'Her words do not fall to the ground.'
"An homage to the Orisha, Yamaya who is often considered the ocean. No water, no ocean, no salt. The air, the mother, the caretaker," explains Ashara. "Women have altars at their house, whether or not they say that they're altars. But you see them around here. There'll be some table that has all the pictures of all the dead folk. All the sacred dead. The ancestors are there."
Asked about her curatorial style, Ashara says, "I'm really just a reflection of these artists. I mean, we are. We're not on the planet alone, right? Sometimes it feels like we are, but we are actually in reflection and interconnected and interdependent of one another. And, you know, I identify as a black feminist, as a woman who uses she and they pronouns, but also as an interdisciplinary, independent curator. Yes. And a cultural theologian and a maker and a mentor and a grandmother. All of those identities are part of how I show up in service to the community and to society. And as an artist. A very proud 'check that box,' you know?"
Behind Ashara hangs a triptych of bold handwoven rugs with glitter and brown faces with sunglasses and hands and nails and absolute fabulous-ness. It almost spans one entire wall of the gallery.
"I'm sitting in front of this really, beautiful tapestry by April Bey," says Ashara, "and I was just struck by it, taken by the grandeur of it. I just want you to, like, check out the clotheslines that are hanging there, just bejeweled and beautiful.
Two works are made of human hair. Locks.
"This piece and the piece next to it are both by Adebunme Gbadebo. These are locks that she has collected over many years. The title of this piece is called Dada."
"In the front Gallery we have this installation by Detroit-based artist Sabrina Nelson called 'Why You Want to Fly Blackbird.' These are dresses and nests and curio and an offering in an homage to mothers who have lost their children to violence, to gun violence. They're creating nests for them, for their spirits to come."
"Black women hold up the universe. We hold it together. You know, it would absolutely implode without our love and care. A lot of my work and my understanding of myself comes from being raised by a black feminist, being raised by a mother who was very intentional about making sure that her two daughters understood our power. And I remember asking my father once, 'who gets to decide the art that's hanging on the wall?' And he said, 'Oh, that's the curator.' And I told him at a very young age, 'Well, that's what I want to be.'"
Ashara is an artist's artist. She founded a nonprofit to provide black and indigenous women opportunities for residencies, publishing, funding, exhibitions like this one, and more.
"Artist as First Responder is my curatorial practice. The thought is that artists will show up, generally. first, and that response often for artist is beauty. The response is: here's the gift. The response is: here's the recipe, here's the tea. Like, take a drink. You know, take a sip of it. Here's the song. It's like, I am the creator, right? I am in the process of making and creating. It wasn't there before and now it's there. So, if that's not a metaphor for the divine being that we all showed up as, I don't know what is.