Makeda Flood
We Do Not Spring Up From Nothing
On view May 30 – June 15, 2019
Local Project
11-27 44th Rd.
LIC, NY 11101
Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 12-6pm
Makeda Flood, a recent graduate of the Department of Photography & Imaging at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, joins fellow artist Matt Scheffler in an exhibition at the Local Project in Long Island City. Curated by Masha Bychkov and Jack Douglas, "We Do Not Spring Up From Nothing" explores the intersection of family history and personal experience as the artists address how their ancestry informs their own perception of self. Makeda Flood’s work, based on her senior thesis project here at DPI, delves into the double consciousness of biracial identity. As a means to construct her own personal history, she unearths an extensive archive of her mother’s familial records while reconciling with a severe lack thereof on her father’s side. Applying a range of media, she does not depict a linear view of history, but a view of multiple interwoven timelines. Collaging her mother’s family portraits with her owncontemporary photographs and writing, Flood creates a new narrative. Meanwhile, Flood’s film "Ifa Makeda Selassie," documents her visit to her grandmother on her father’s side. She takes it upon herself to create her own archives and photographic representations, closing the gap between both sides of her identity.