S3 Ep022 Diaspora, Monuments, and Harriet Tubman in Baltimore: with artist Lehna Huie, Pt1
Multimedia artist and reproductive justice advocate Lehna Huie discusses her Pan-African and Caribbean identity, the personal, familial, and cultural context of her art, and her work in community and healing modalities. She shares:
Her roles as a storyteller and an archivist, and how she uses her creative practice to reveal hidden histories;
The way that she maintains a focus on community care in her life and work as an artist;
Her research on Harriet Tubman’s presence in Baltimore and subsequent ritual performance at the re-dedicated space of Harriet Tubman Grove;
Why the removal of the racist monuments is just the beginning of reclaiming public space.
Bio:
Lehna Huie is a multidisciplinary artist, mother and cultural worker of Jamaican heritage from New York City. Huie works in painting, installation and video on diaspora, memory and fragmentation - creating atmospheric portraits that document her lineage. Concentrated on the soul, non-linear time and ritual, her works are composed of fabric, paper, projections, textile scraps and everyday objects.
In 2022 Lehna was named Artist Changemaker with Global Fund for Women and was an Inaugural resident of Stoneleaf Retreat Art Mamas Residency. That same year, she represented the USA in The Hague Contemporary Art Fair at Quartair Gallery in the Netherlands. Lehna has received multiple awards including the Space for Creative Black Imagination Makers & Research Fellowship and Artist Changemaker Award with Global Fund for Women. Trained through the Joan Mitchell Foundation, her practice includes work as a Legacy Specialist, preserving intergenerational artists archives and oral histories.
“As an artist with a background as an educator, as well as someone who's committed to work around reproductive justice and wellness, particularly for women, it's really important for me to also connect with women from around the world, from all walks of life, and people from all walks of life, but to really understand how we're connected, and share in our differences as well.”
-Lehna Huie
Transcript
Season 3, Episode 22 (Part 1) : Diaspora, Monuments, and Harriet Tubman in Baltimore: with artist Lehna Huie
Lehna Huie:
As an artist with a background as an educator, as well as someone who's committed to work around reproductive justice and wellness, particularly for women, it's really important for me to also connect with women from around the world, from all walks of life, and people from all walks of life, but to really understand how we're connected, and share in our differences as well.
[Rhythmic sounds of electric train pulling into station]
[Subway chimes arpeggio played on mandolin]
Cevan Castle, Host:
Welcome to Towards a Kinder Public, a podcast dedicated to designing kinder public space that better meets our interconnected needs. I’m Cevan Castle, and along with Annie Chen, we are Kinderpublic.
We are so fortunate to be able to share this conversation with Baltimore and New York based multimedia artist Lehna Martine Huie. Lehna’s work has been shown and commissioned across the United States and internationally. She is a participant in international foundation and benefit work, and received the Artist Changemaker Award from the Global Fund for Women. She is currently participating in the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts and Asian American Arts Alliance 2023 Bandung Residency, to foster and uplift allyship between Asian American Pacific Islander and Black communities.
We will discuss Lehna’s work as an artist, her Pan-African and Caribbean identity, the opportunities within mothering, her interest in healing modalities, and her work towards reproductive justice.
Lehna will speak about her experience with Baltimore’s partial removal of monuments dedicated to confederate leadership, and her research of Harriet Tubman’s work and life there, which informed Lehna’s work titled Mysticism of Faith, and which led her to a deeper understanding of the basis for personal resilience.
This is the first of three episodes from my conversation with Lehna, I hope you will find many ideas that interest and uplift you. Thank you for joining us for Part 1.
Lehna Huie, opening interview:
Hi, Cevan.
Cevan:
Hi! I'm so glad you could join me. Thank you so much for sharing your time.
Lehna Huie:
Of course. Thank you. This is amazing.
Cevan:
Just to help orient everyone, would you describe your background, and your work, and how can listeners best get a picture of you and what is important to you, so they have an idea of who you are as we go on with our conversation.
Lehna Huie:
Yeah, my name is Lehna Huie and I am from New York City and my family's from Jamaica. I'm the first generation born in the US. And, yeah, my identity is a really big part of my work, and so I celebrate my identity as someone who considers themselves a Pan-Africanist, or, my family is very Afrocentric and we always celebrate the diaspora. So, you know, thinking about where our ancestors come from, which is in Africa and all over the Caribbean, and celebrating Caribbean identity, and the ways in which it's been fragmented across the globe.
And so, in addition to celebrating my immediate family, I'm really exploring the undertones of things that happen more, yeah, with family, within myself, and then also in the larger global context. So it's kind of in these layers. And I explore personal transformation. And as a mother of an eight year old now, and someone who's identified as an artist for many years, I have transformed in so many ways over the years as a mother, and continue to, through my work and through the people that I meet, and what I'm learning, and what's coming through in the work.
And so a large part of my work, I also consider to be a form of a historical documenting, or yeah, documenting history. So it's almost, yeah, I consider it to be an archival practice whose strands are really passed down to me. But my personal channel is through visual art, whereas for my mom, it might be something else. So she does a lot of work around ministry, so like for her, that's how it comes through. But there's still these traces that are, and patterns that are found across the generations.
And I think just in mothering my daughter that is coming through there as well. So, we co-create a lot with each other, with the stories that have been passed down. And I consider myself to be a story keeper, which is something that's a tradition that's passed down from family. So oral tradition, oral histories are really important for us, and also material histories.
And so, I utilize a lot of different kinds of material in my work. So you'll find a lot of natural objects found in the earth, and plant matter, as well as textiles that have been passed down, textiles, beads, shells, things that have been collected over time. I utilize a lot of memorabilia and like small notes and things that have been collected over time through family, and just things that I've saved.
A large part of my work is about communicating across realms. And so, like between ancestors and learning and communicating from them, and guides, I really feel that the work is a collaborative kind of effort that happens between the living and the non-living. And so there's also this world of the seen versus the unseen, and there's a lot of blending between all of those worlds. And so like I really enjoy that space in between things, and hope that the work will be useful in the future for others.
And as an artist with a background as an educator, as well as someone who's committed to work around reproductive justice and wellness, particularly for women, it's really important for me to also connect with women from around the world, from all walks of life and people from all walks of life, but to really understand how we're connected, and share in our differences as well.
A lot of the texture that I use in my, and I use a lot of texture, so texture, pattern colors, bright colors, a lot of that is really pulled from, you know, the kind of grittiness of the city. And so picking up on all of those layers that you'll find just walking down the street in New York, all of the sounds, the sights and sounds and all of the influences of music, all the different strains of music that have influenced me, thinking about jazz and reggae, hip hop and folk music, all of these things that I grew up with.
And I grew up with a lot of books around me. And so a lot of passages that, you know, I would read, or imagery that I would find in those materials, they kind of repeat again in my work. And there’s a lot of repetition throughout the figures and the patterns in my work. And there is a celebration of Carnival culture as well, which is kind of digging into some of the ways in which our history here, people from Jamaica, at least my family, having heritage, understanding our heritage, in ways that have been hidden by the society, but have been preserved and kept through the generations. And so I am choosing to celebrate in this way through my creative practice.
Cevan:
You've mentioned a lot of words around the idea of preservation and being a preservationist and working in an archival manner where you're keeping these pieces and maintaining this collection of objects, but also information stories. So it's really interesting to think of you also working in that manner in your own life, like collecting the colors and the city experiences, the sensory experiences of your time in the city, and the bits of writing that you've seen and these things all kind of mingling because they do come out in your artwork as well, right? You do then sometimes use these items from your collections.
Lehna Huie:
Yeah, definitely, and it shows up in so many different ways. So I'm multidisciplinary, so I have a painting practice that informs my installation practice, which then informs my video work, and photography, and how that's all kind of blended in with the work that I do around reproductive justice, and connecting with folks in that way, and sharing healing modalities for ways of coping through difficult times and how to strengthen ourselves in the midst of challenging times through the creative process.
And that's unique for everyone, but I really love to facilitate processes that, you know, invite folks to share and to kind of dig in and explore their deepest self, and to be able to be vulnerable and sharing that with others I think is a really beautiful experience. And it's something that folks remember and I love to be a part of that.
And I find that it is really a form of healing, and it took me a long time to kind of accept that, because I was seeing it so separate from someone who might be a doctor or someone who is really prescribing medicine, but it is a form of medicine as well. So I'm really appreciative and growing in that knowing.
Cevan:
That struck me as something, I guess I just always noticed that about you. I feel like we connected very… very early on, we connected over mutual concerns about maternal safety and reproductive justice. And I felt like the care, your understanding of care, and the many ways that we can bring health, reinforce health, support others, it just seemed very apparent in the way that you… in your presence and also the way that you interact with people.
Lehna Huie:
Yeah, I think sometimes even though that's part of how I might identify, it's not always clear in my mind because there's just so much…
Cevan:
Yeah. [laughing]
Lehna Huie:
There’s just so much going on. And I think when you're sharing your work as an artist in a world that's very… that kind of boxes people into what art should be, or what they think an artist should be, or look like, or what kind of space their work fits in… my work, definitely can really live outside of that space because it can live in an organic space or a community space as well as a gallery space. So sometimes if I'm in the gallery space more often, for a significant amount of time, then at times it can create kind of a cloud over everything and then you can't see beyond it, and then you kind of have to reground and reset. At least this is what it's like for me.
Cevan:
Yeah!
Lehna Huie:
I have to take some space and reground and, “Why am I doing this again? What is my purpose again? How am I connecting with myself and others again?” Because yes, collective care, community care, collaborative care is really important for me, as well as just ensuring that the stories that we're sharing and uplifting are held with respect and honor, not just exploited.
So I'm very careful with who I work with, and what kinds of dialogue I'm willing to engage in, because I also want to protect all of those other stories that we're carrying as well. And to just honor them in their light and in their fullness.
Cevan:
Right.
And related to what you just said is something that I wanted to bring up, which was your work of embodiment in the artwork, Mysticism of Faith. And I wanted to ask you about that work, and that process, and what embodiment means, because that was a work that you did… I'm particularly interested in the part of that work that existed in public space, and in a space that it looked to me like you were claiming in some way.
And then also related to what you just said, some of the material pieces from that artwork then went to a gallery. But I'm really interested in talking about that first moment with the embodiment and what that means.
Lehna Huie:
Yeah, I mean that piece was really special in that I felt really connected to the story of Harriet Tubman as a naturalist for the first time.
And I knew about that part of her work, and that's another part of my identity that I don't really uplift as much, as being an herbalist and someone who likes working with nature and plants, and the earth. And so I think that being able to embody her through reclaiming the space, which is where… So, the location was at Wyman Dell Park, which is in Baltimore, which is where I'm currently based, between here and New York, but mostly in Baltimore. And the site of the piece, and I call it a ritual performance because it wasn't just a performance, it's like something that was very interactive, but essentially it was at the space where there was a statue dedicated to one of the confederate soldiers, Robert E. Lee, and also Stonewall Jackson.
And so I found it to be really interesting that, after doing a lot of research on that particular space, and learning about why the monuments were taken down, and throughout the Black Lives Matter protests, these monuments were taken down and destroyed. And so what's left, there are the remnants of that… of those two men. And so, all along the edge of this stone base, you have their names and a dedication to them.
And so I was really struck by that when I walked past there and then learned that that space was actually dedicated- rededicated- to Harriet Tubman.
Through that history, I learned of the history of Harriet Tubman in Baltimore, which I just did not have any knowledge of prior, really. And I didn't know her connection to Maryland at all. And so it was really beautiful to be able to learn about that history and learn that she was in all of these places that I was traveling to learn more about her.
And so the embodiment piece was also, yeah, when standing at the base of that statue, it was void of the statues themselves, but with the remnants of the words [still there], it still felt like the statues were there. And so there was this sense of erasure, that Harriet's name wasn't there, so it was renamed Harriet Tubman's Grove, but there was no sign, no plaque, no dedication, no symbol of her presence there, just still the presence of these confederate, you know, these two men.
So the performance or the piece that I did was sharing her words, and I wore a piece that I made that almost looked like a tattered flag, and it was a piece that I hand sewed together with many strips of fabric, and I painted them bright tones of red, green blue, and I added these eyes of people who were important to my political education in some way, like Black artists, scholars, thinkers, historians, and abolitionists, who were really pivotal to my understanding of the political landscape of the us and beyond. And so throughout learning about Harriet, and just combining all of these materials together, and learning about her movements throughout Maryland and Baltimore specifically, that she was at this specific place, it felt really good to just speak her words in this embodied role, where I imagined myself as her, and all that she endured and all that she stood for, and yeah, just how magical that was.
And she had this injury when she was younger, when she was a young woman, an overseer through a brick at her forehead, and it gave her permanent brain damage. And so not only did she have a deep scar in her forehead, but she also would, in the midst of bringing people to their liberation, which was completely life-changing, and droves of people to their liberation and risking her life along with those abolitionists that she worked with, all of them risking their lives through this Underground Railroad and everything that she stood for. Anyhow, along with all of that, she had this injury where she would pass out suddenly, you know, just…. in the midst of moving through the woods and bringing droves of people to help to liberate all of these people. In the middle of that, she would just pass out and would have these psychic revelations and dreams, and she would just kind of go into another world.
And she felt that- she believed that- she was communicating with the creator or higher power. And so that in those moments where she would move into this other realm, she would get these messages that would lead her and guide her to continuing her work. And so for me, that was so profound, and to even speak her words was like, it was an affirmation in so many ways.
And then I shared that experience with my classmates at the time, and I invited everyone to participate. And so in their participation, they learned about the history, and were able to learn from her on a more intimate level. And so like, that's really what that work was about, was about understanding Harriet Tubman beyond just the name Harriet Tubman, and beyond what we've been told about her. And understanding her as a woman, her as a mother, and just understanding all of the layers that she was carrying, and her joy and her grief as well, and being able to embrace that fully.
And I didn't know that the film was coming out around the same time, but it did, and it was a very, very stark contrast to the film itself. But it was still interesting that it came around during that time, and that was right before the pandemic hit. And so I think on reflection, thinking about it afterward when it hit, was really refreshing to know that I had that space to really channel that kind of energy in a very deep and meaningful way, that almost prepared me, I believe, prepared me, to go into the pandemic craze with more clarity and more purpose because of her values. And she was a very, what they would say, a very small woman in stature, but just who she was was so large and embodied so much. And yeah, she was amazing. [laughing]
Cevan:
That was beautiful. I found the pictures to just be very emotionally powerful. And the picture of you at that site, which seemed to be still contaminated with the remnants of the other statues, and hadn't quite been removed, it was just, I really felt like you bringing her spirit there and you companioning her, from those images.
Lehna Huie:
Absolutely. Yeah. And I loved the title, that came to me, because I just really admire how everything that she did was based on faith, and it was based on things that she could not see. And so for me, that is just very telling of, you know, beyond resilience, beyond all of that, it's just like this kind of stream of that wisdom that comes from the unseen. And just trusting that this is the right thing to do because you believe it, and you know in your heart of hearts what's wrong and what's right. And so I think that- because I also have so many of those values in myself- it really strengthened that for me.
Cevan:
Right!
[Audio recording of “Tuning Forks on Resonators” demonstration of the interaction of sound waves with physical objects (from the Physical Science Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History) begins to play in background]
Cevan:
Be sure to check out our website, kinderpublic.com, for more information about our guest and the topic, as well as a full transcript of the conversation, which can be found on the podcast page. A captioned episode is available on our Youtube channel, where we are @kinderpublic.
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If you want to share information about the accessibility of public space, and places that are doing things right, email podcast at kinderpublic.com.
I’m Cevan Castle, my guest has been contemporary artist Lehna Huie. Join us next time for more of the conversation. Have a very good week!
[“Tuning Forks on Resonators” fades out]
Mentioned in this episode:
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts
Harriet Tubman Grove at Wyman Park Dell, Baltimore, Maryland
For further information on Baltimore monuments:
Reimagining Harriet Tubman Grove
Baltimore’s Confederate Memory & Monuments - Baltimore’s Civil Rights Heritage
(At the time this interview was posted, the U.S. National Park Service page for Wyman Park features an image of the removed confederate monument. Kinderpublic has written to the Park Service to ask for clarification.)
Sounds/Visuals in this episode:
“Tuning Forks on Resonators“ demonstration video of the interaction of sound waves with physical objects, care of the Physical Science Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History