Bio
Diamond Gray (b. 1991) is a multimedia artist from Jacksonville, FL. Gray intermixes drawing, printmaking, and audio to embody the deep spiritual connections between the Black women in her family and her Southern working class upbringing.
She participated in the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Assets 4 Artists residency and the Studio Museum in Harlem's Museum Education Practicum amongst many other professional art opportunities. As an artist and museum educator who advocates for BIPOC and queer youth, she combines her art and pedagogical practices to focus on processes, research, and experimentation that reflect her history and encourages her students to find authentic ways to express themselves.
Artist Statement
I grew up in a working-class family with a complex matriarchal history. As a Southern Black queer woman, my art has been a vehicle through which I document, archive, and tell my matriarchal lineage. Within this history, I have witnessed a long line of Black women in my family devote themselves to one another through various actions. My artwork is an exploration of my intimate memories and experiences of Black women’s strong kinship which I transform into these ebony-rich figures I call “Onyxes”. Materials that I use in the depiction of these figures are, borrowed clothing, hair, graphite, India ink, paper, and audio recordings of familial tales. Through my creative process, I maintain the power of their existence through both physical memorabilia and the various forms of art that my matriarchal history inspires.
I see my art making process and remembrance of my matriarchal history as a salve to heal my challenges with colorism, gender violence, and spirituality. Through my depiction of these Onyex figures I intend to subvert negative connotations of Blackness and queerness to mend wounds, celebrate my ancestors, and recognize the thriving community I hail from.