This exhibition of ‘Y(our) Legacy’ centers previous participants and a specific cohort of LGBTQ+ immigrants and refugees as we are currently witnessing the attack on LGBT communities made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Their description of artwork would consist of their self-reflection of what they feel about the current news impacting them and/or their community.
Their stories aim to document and contextualize present-day LGBTQIA+, and Refugee/Immigrant experiences. In 2023 alone, more than 435 anti-trans bills have been introduced across 44 states. These proposed laws attack trans peoples’ access to essential life-giving healthcare: the right to use the correct bathroom, to play youth sports, to enjoy full and vibrant lives, free from discrimination, dystopian surveillance, and the vicious attempts by conservative lawmakers to twist our humanity into a tool of reelection. The goal is for participants as LGBTQIA+ refugees and Immigrants to share their narratives of joy, hope, and urgency to promote a more just, equitable world.
It is important to share these powerful narratives to humanize their experience by offering an opportunity to participate in a group exhibition to display the finished images in Oakland. Special thanks to our funders Oakland Futures Award and our partners ARTogether and Moments Cooperative & Community Space!
Sen is the creator and founder of the Y(our) Legacy workshop. Y(our) Legacy goal is to create an accessible therapeutic art setting for community to envision their own artistic expression constructing empowering narrative, and unapologetically envisioning their liberation story through the process of block printing as a somatic tool to carve away pain and heartbreak to end with a final image of healing and relief.
Curator
Sen Mendez (they/them), also known as Queen Sen, is a non-binary indigenous (Otomí and Nahua-Pipil) multidisciplinary artist, cultural practitioner, entrepreneur, and educator deeply rooted and born in the Huichin Ohlone Territory/Oakland, California. Their artistic practice employs visual storytelling through block printing, murals, paintings, classes and community workshops by creating a space for engagement among the communities of Bay Area youth, LGBTQIA+, Indigenous, Disabled, Refugees and Immigrant individuals to empower personal narratives, envision futures of liberation, and heal intergenerational trauma. Sen is the creator and founder of the Y(our) Legacy workshop. Y(our) Legacy goal is to create an accessible therapeutic art setting for community to envision their own artistic expression constructing empowering narrative, and unapologetically envisioning their liberation story through the process of block printing as a somatic tool to carve away pain and heartbreak to end with a final image of healing and relief.
Exhibiting Artists
Yaffa’s featured work reimagines the concept of community care through the portrayal of a constellation, honoring the gravitational pulls that connect us all, whether we are aware of them or not. This becomes particularly critical four months into the genocide in Palestine, and even longer in Sudan, Armenia, the Congo, and far too many other places around the world. Community care is essential in building the world we deserve.
sonemani bitna is a Queer Trans Non-binary Lao and Korean martial artist from the south who loves martial arts, plants and is a sunshine chaser. sonemani’s featured work explores how movement and plants offer protection and community, building a home within the self and among transitions.
Aspensong Nevarez is a disabled Two-Spirit multimedia artist and activist based on stolen Muwekma Ohlone lands in Huichin (so-called Oakland). Ze loves doing beadwork, filmmaking, writing, printmaking, and performing as a drag artist. He also believes in Indigenous thrivance, Palestinian freedom, Black liberation, and disability justice. When not making art, ze likes to watch zir silly little shows, read fanfic, drink boba and pet zir cat. All at once if possible.
NiQueen Jones is an Oakland-based multidisciplinary artist and abolitionist educator who intersects the concepts of social justice, personal & community healing, youth advocacy, and mindfulness. She has been working in both education and the arts since 1999. She is currently working with The People’s Conservatory and Black Cultural Zone while compiling a personal poetry & art project and pursuing her Master’s Degree in Arts Management.
Erina Alejo (they/them/siya) is an artist and cultural worker who uses their lens as a third-generation San Francisco tenant in making art that nurtures our narratives, power, and community cultural wealth.
Mo Asebiomo (they/them) is your friendly Nigerian-American enby East Bay transparent who loves to write and be outside. They are committed to embodying freedom in their body, life and work. When they’re not cloud watching, they love to dance to Afro-beats, read zines and make crafts with friends!
