Kuumba Artist Feature: Christine Nnawuchi
Harbourfront Centre’s Kuumba festival is spotlighting a different Black artist each day of February. Today we’re sharing the story of Christine Nnawuchi.
As a young adult, Christine Nnawuchi would show off her skating skills at Harbourfront Centre, wowing her friends and school mates. Later, when she would visit as a young adult, she would be in awe of the Artists-in-Residence. The glassworkers captivated her especially. She would watch them, shaping and pulling motel glass, and to her it was as if they were making candy. Harbourfront Centre was always a place of discovery for her, allowing her to recognize artistry as a legitimate career choice, and reminding her that, as she grew older, she didn’t need to stop playing.
If her feelings towards Harbourfront Centre have an air to nostalgia to them, then, it’s not surprising. Nostalgia guides Christine’s art. “I want my art to evoke a peculiar nostalgia in those who interact with it, a distant longing for a place they’ve never been,” she says. While nostalgia can come in all sorts of flavours, the particular type of nostalgia she cultivates is oriented around rediscovering community. She goes on, “The artefacts I create are infused with memory, and they speak to the stories of a place and a people. I create the ruins that beg you to wonder about the individuals who lived among them. By rediscovering these lost people, you are discovering the pillars of a community — the pillars of every community.” She sees her mission as being particularly vital during the pandemic, as isolation is corrosive and, through her art, she wants to extend her hand to people and connect.
The focus on community is a recurring theme for her. It’s through community that she better understands herself. As an artist, she recognizes that her work is always grounded in her own perspective. When she shares her work with new audiences, she sees herself reflected in their eyes, and this process, of seeing herself in a new way through someone else, inspires and excites her. Last year, she exhibited at The Artist Project, a contemporary art fair. “I was apprehensive and, having imposter syndrome, feeling small, but it was the radical acceptance of the artist community, without conditions, without censure, that has been the most powerful, uplifting and validatingly strange experience! To be surrounded by so many talented artists was in itself otherworldly, but being accepted by them was transcendent — strange, yet beautiful.”
As a racialized artist, she does note that the art world can feel homogenous, “where Black voices are sprinkled in like pepper.” She elaborates, “Many pat themselves on the back for the inclusion of a Black artist, but how could one or two encompass the vibrance and variety of all Black people?” She rejects the misconception that Black artists are interchangeable, all speaking with a homogenous Black voice. Some focus on historical work, others are Afrofuturists, or paint traditionally, or sculpt in modern styles, while others “combine everything and create chimeras.” She quotes her sister here, “What can be said about works of art by Black people is that they speak to each other. While they don’t always match, they usually rhyme.”
Christine Nnawuchi is a Caledon-based ceramicist. You can find her work on her Instagram (@nawuchi) or website (www.christinennawuchi.com).
