Antonio Darden
Region: South
It is exhausting to exist as a multiracial man in America. In 1978, my West
Indian mother entered the United States by way of New York. In order to
safely assimilate, my mother relinquished her Caribbean heritage. She later
met my African American father at a funeral, fell in love, relocated to the
South and learned to cooked soul food. I had an older brother. In 2018 he
was shot and killed by a cop.
My work investigates the faceted constructs of self-identity and its
relational dependence upon both the living and dead. Through humor, humble
self-reflection, and the constant digestion of content, I question the fickle
landscape known as social identity. These systematic investigations point to
our shared experiences through life and death. I die a little bit everyday while
watching your TikToks. My all-access pass to everything all at once makes
me consider my mixed-race makeup as I grapple with presumptions of other
cultures.
Our problems on earth are universal. Race is a construct. Satire is a vehicle.
And grief, just is.