Shervone Neckles
Creative Wellness Gathering Station
My eagerness to acquire knowledge and share with others has provided a fulfilling analytical and cultural exchange that goes beyond art making. My Creative Wellness Gathering Station channels the knowledge and wisdom of my community to recall remedies and natural methods they use to heal and cure their everyday ailments. Together with the local residents I am interested in forming a collaborative process that uses lively conversation and interactive demonstrations with the sampling, mixing and blending of loose herbs and spices on the cart to address health and wellness issues directly affecting the neighborhood. Bringing together a variety of experiences, values and notions completely motivated by genuine inquiry, meaning and positive intention is how art can affect social change. This type of cooperative learning experience I hope I am able to model in both life and art practice for my son: the value in being a life-long learner, civic participant and socially aware individual. To commemorate the exchange, participants are invited to offer a small portion of their personal herbal blends made during the interactive demonstrations to be used in the creation of a community garment. The garment will symbolize the self-care and nurturing experienced during the exchange.
About the artist
I’m an Afro-Caribbean-American woman raised in Brooklyn, New York to Grenadian parents. My work weaves together concepts of nature and science with objects and practices rooted in the Afro-Caribbean tradition. As interdisciplinary artist my work embraces collage, alternative printmaking techniques, book arts, sculpture, installation and animation. The Creative Wellness Gathering Station is a new social experiment that reflects my spiritual psyche and creative impulses as an artist. It demonstrates my continuous efforts to channel the innate presence of ancestral memory and power. I currently live in Queens, NY with my partner, artist José Ortíz and 3-year old son.
Photos: Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful
Creative Wellness Gathering Station
My eagerness to acquire knowledge and share with others has provided a fulfilling analytical and cultural exchange that goes beyond art making. My Creative Wellness Gathering Station channels the knowledge and wisdom of my community to recall remedies and natural methods they use to heal and cure their everyday ailments. Together with the local residents I am interested in forming a collaborative process that uses lively conversation and interactive demonstrations with the sampling, mixing and blending of loose herbs and spices on the cart to address health and wellness issues directly affecting the neighborhood. Bringing together a variety of experiences, values and notions completely motivated by genuine inquiry, meaning and positive intention is how art can affect social change. This type of cooperative learning experience I hope I am able to model in both life and art practice for my son: the value in being a life-long learner, civic participant and socially aware individual. To commemorate the exchange, participants are invited to offer a small portion of their personal herbal blends made during the interactive demonstrations to be used in the creation of a community garment. The garment will symbolize the self-care and nurturing experienced during the exchange.
About the artist
I’m an Afro-Caribbean-American woman raised in Brooklyn, New York to Grenadian parents. My work weaves together concepts of nature and science with objects and practices rooted in the Afro-Caribbean tradition. As interdisciplinary artist my work embraces collage, alternative printmaking techniques, book arts, sculpture, installation and animation. The Creative Wellness Gathering Station is a new social experiment that reflects my spiritual psyche and creative impulses as an artist. It demonstrates my continuous efforts to channel the innate presence of ancestral memory and power. I currently live in Queens, NY with my partner, artist José Ortíz and 3-year old son.
Photos: Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful
