About the Artist
Austin, Texas
I am a textile artist and independent scholar based in Central Texas. The textile traditions of the Black Diaspora are the heart of my practice. I explore the complexity of Black geographies through quilt making, botanical dyeing, archival photographs and texts.
My studio is named after my grandmothers, Barbara Jean and Geneva. I draw inspiration from my family’s legacy of being nomads and from the skills, materials and plants that they carried with them throughout their journeys.
I teach group workshops that are focused on the meditative process of creation. These workshops are suitable for both beginner and experienced makers.
From 2021–2022, I was Virtual Artist and Scholar Resident with the Black Botany Studio at University of California Santa Cruz. I was a Winterthur Maker-Creator Fellow in 2022.
Website: GenevaJean.com
Social Media: @Geneva_Jean_
Artist Statement
Mojo for Climate Change is inspired by the design of antique seed bags from Pennsylvania. The small cloth seed bags remind me of mojo bags, protective, spiritually charged talismans that are a Black Southern spiritual practice. Mojo is medicine that is imbued with power to help the recipient. My mojo bags are an offering to the ancestors who were forced to labor in the racist and colonial economies that created the current climate catastrophe. The materials were chosen carefully to create medicine for a just, abundant world where power and resources are shared equitably. The project materials were grown and processed in ways that nourish the earth and justly compensate artisans.